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UNCLE JIM’S STORIES 

FROM THE 

NEW TESTAMENT 


BY 

HARTWELL JAMES 


ILLUSTRATED 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 





BY THE SAME AUTHOR 

IN UNIFORM STYLE 

The Boys of the Bible 

Uncle Jim’s Bible Stories 

Uncle Jim’s Stories from 
the Old Testament 

Stories vividly told, and replete with 
incident and adventure, that address 
themselves to the young reader’s heart, 
and will carry him through the pages 
with irresistible curiosity. 

i2mo, Cloth, with Decorated Cover and 
Colored Illustrations. 

Price, each, $1.00 

HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA 


Copyright, 1923, by 
Howard E. Altemus 


FEINTED IN THE UNITED STATES Of AMERICA 


JUN18 ’23 

©C1A704913 

A-V© I 



!)) • ~ir> & , 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Why Betty Was Glad. 7 

The Child in the Manger. 18 

The Wise Men from the East. 31 

The Angel’s Whisper. 43 

The Vision That Simeon Saw. 56 

The Little Carpenter of Nazareth. 70 

When the Heavens Opened. 84 

The Fishermen of Galilee. 98 

The Homecoming of Jesus. 109 

The Magic Basket. 119 

Jesus Has a Visitor. 129 

The Nobleman’s Son. 141 

The Fish in the Net. 154 

The Little Girl Who Came Back. 168 

The Sermon on the Mount. 183 

The Magic Pool. 190 

The Voice frois* the Cloud. 202 

The Children Who Cried Hosanna. 213 

Judas Sells His Master. 222 

The Empty Cave. 236 

Firelight on Galilee. 243 

























































































































































































































































' 














UNCLE JIM’S STORIES 
FROM THE 
NEW TESTAMENT 










Uncle Jim’s Stories from the 
New Testament 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 

ETTY DEAR, it is almost train-time, 

JD and you haven’t even begun to dress,” 
reminded Mrs. Burroughs, affectionately patting 
her little daughter’s yellow curls. “ If no one is 
at the train to meet them, Uncle Jim and Cousin 
Dick will be keenly disappointed. You know I 
have to get dinner ready, so there is no one but 
yourself who can meet them.” 

“ I’ll be there, Mother. You don’t think I 
would let my Uncle Jim and Cousin Dick be dis¬ 
appointed, do you? Indeed I would not,” re¬ 
torted Betty. 

“ Then run along and dress, Daughter,” urged 
Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ I will be down in a few moments,” called back 


7 



WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


Betty as she sped upstairs, and her mother could 
hear her singing and talking to herself as she 
prepared to go out. In an incredibly short time 
the little girl was downstairs again and ready to 
go to the railroad station, and she looked very 
sweet, as her mother admitted to herself. It 
would not do to tell Betty how very beautiful 
she looked, for Betty was inclined to be vain and 
needed no encouragement in that direction. 

a I am ready, Mother dear,” she announced, 
first taking a look in the mirror, then dancing 
up to Mrs. Burroughs and giving her a noisy 
Jdss, following which Betty sped out of the house. 

Don’t run,” called Mrs. Burroughs. 

I won’t. I’ll just trot,” answered Betty, 
slowing down ever so little. 

The coming of Uncle Jim and his son Dick 
was an event that had been long and eagerly 
looked forward to by Betty, for, besides her love 
for Uncle Jim and Dick, there was another reason 
that made their arrival of so much interest to her. 
Uncle Jim told the most wonderful stories, 
8 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


stories of the Bible and the Bible people, and 
told them as only Uncle Jim Burroughs could 
tell stories. He had been doing this on his visits 
to Mrs. Burroughs, his sister, for the last several 
summers. And now the little girl had come to 
look forward to the visits of Uncle Jim, and the 
stories he told her, with the keenest possible an¬ 
ticipation. 

Though Betty was only ten years old, she was 
quite tall for her years, and, since Uncle Jim 
and Dick were there a year before, she had grown 
almost a half a head taller, her mother declared. 
All the way to the railroad station Betty was 
wondering what Uncle Jim would think when he 
saw that she had “ grown up,” as she expressed 
it to herself. 

Somewhat to Betty's disappointment, when 
she met Uncle Jim getting down from the train, 
he never said a word about “ how tall you have 
grown,” but as he looked Betty over his eyes 
twinkled understandingly. The twinkle in Uncle 
Jim’s eyes could express a great many things, and 
Betty had learned to read them quite well. 


9 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


It was a joyful meeting, just the same. Dick, 
too, had grown, and Uncle Jim’s face seemed 
more noble and kindly than ever, but Betty was 
a little sad when she all at once discovered that 
his hair was now as white as the snows of winter. 

“You darling old Uncle Jim,” was Betty’s 
greeting as she threw both arms about his neck. 
“ I have just been eating my heart out for you 
and Dick, and especially for you,” she added, 
stroking the gray-haired head with gentle fingers. 
“You are so wonderful.” 

“How are you?” greeted Dick, holding out 
his hand. 

“ Mercy! What is the matter with your voice? 
You have an awful cold, haven’t you? ” cried 
Betty, for Dick’s voice sounded hoarse and un¬ 
natural. 

“A cold in the summer time? No. Not I,” 
retorted Dick. “ That’s my own natural voice.” 

“Dick’s voice is changing,” explained Uncle 
Jim. “Dick is at the turning point between 
boyhood and manhood, Betty, and when we come 
here again his voice may be as deep and musical 


io 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


as your dear father’s. By the way, what do you 
hear from that beloved Daddy of yours? ” he 
asked as they started away from the station, 
after Uncle Jim had arranged to have their bag¬ 
gage taken to Betty’s home. 

“ Let me see, the last time we heard from 
Daddy his ship was at Singapore. He is taking 
a party around the world, you know — that is, 
taking the ship around, and the party is riding 
on the ship,” explained Betty in more detail. 

Dick grinned and glanced at his father, but 
Uncle Jim’s face was all interest in what the 
little girl was saying. 

“ Some day I am going with him,” announced 
Betty. “ Won’t that be perfectly fine? Dick, I 
shall take you and Uncle Jim with me, too, and 
Uncle Jim will tell us stories all the way around 
the world, and we’ll have the most beautifulest 
time that ever was. Won’t that be glorious, dear 
Uncle Jim? ” 

Betty’s father was captain of a big ship that 
sailed the oceans of the world, and she seldom 
saw him except as now and then he paid Betty 


ii 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 

and her mother a brief visit when his ship hap¬ 
pened to be in port at New York. Betty loved 
the big bronzed man with every fiber of her being, 
and she loved Uncle Jim almost as well, so this 
lovely June morning was a happy one indeed 
for the little yellow-haired girl, and she floated 
on fairy feet all the way home, fairly racing Dick 
and Uncle Jim along in her haste to reach there. 

After the greetings were over Mrs. Burroughs 
told the travelers that dinner was ready, adding 
that she supposed Dick, as a growing boy, had a 
good appetite. 

“ Appetite! I could eat a house and lot right 
now,” cried Dick. 

“ Mercy! ” murmured Mrs. Burroughs. “ I am 
so glad that I had dinner ready when you reached 
here,” she added amid laughter. 

“And now, Little Blue Eyes, what have you 
been doing with yourself since I last saw you a 
year ago? ” asked Uncle Jim, leaning back in his 
chair at the end of the meal. 

“ Betty has been a very busy little girl,” spoke 
up Mrs. Burroughs. “ I will let her tell you 


12 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


about it herself. Of course she has been to school, 
and I wish you to know that she has made 
splendid progress. You tell Uncle Jim the re3t, 
dear.” Mrs. Burroughs smiled and nodded to 
her much loved little daughter. 

“ It is great news, Uncle Jim,” bubbled Betty. 
“ And I want you to understand that if Dick is 
a grown-up man I am a grown-up woman, too.” 

“ Gracious!” exclaimed Uncle Jim, his eyes 
twinkling merrily. “ How we do grow. Please 
tell me about it.” 

“ I am going to. I can’t keep the wonderful 
news to myself one little minute longer. I am 
a teacher, Uncle Jim. There now! ” 

“ A what? ” demanded Dick. 

“Yes. I am a teacher in our Sunday-school. 
That is, I tell stories to teeney weeney little chil¬ 
dren every Sunday — ” 

“The poor kiddies,” murmured Dick. 

“Dick Burroughs, I’d have you understand 
that they like them,” retorted Betty a little 
heatedly. 

“Stories about what?” questioned Dick. 

13 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


“ About the Bible. I have been telling the 
children stories from the Old Testament, and 
teacher says they are the most beautiful, beau- 
tifulest stories she ever heard. Now what do 
you think of that, Uncle Jim? ” demanded Betty. 

Uncle Jim Burroughs’ face assumed a serious 
expression. 

“ Betty Burroughs, have you been stealing my 
thunder? ” he demanded in mock severity. “ You 
have been telling my stories, and — ” 

“ No, Uncle. I know what you were about to 
say — that I told the stories as my own, when 
they were the same ones you told me last sum¬ 
mer. I did not do anything of the sort. That is, 
I didn’t tell them as my own. I told the teacher, 
and I told the teeney weeney children that they 
were Uncle Jim’s Bible Stories. So there now! ” 
Betty flung up her head and gave Uncle Jim a 
challenging look. 

“ Fine! ” exclaimed Uncle Jim. “ I apologize. 
I shall surely have to go to Sunday-school with 
you next Sunday and hear you.” 

“I — I don’t know about that,” stammered 


i4 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


Betty. “ I don’t believe I have any more stories 
left to tell. That is why I so wanted you to come 
to see us, and — ” 

“So, that is it, eh?” returned Uncle Jim, and 
Dick and Mrs. Burroughs laughed heartily. 

“ That is one reason. And, oh, Uncle, I am so 
glad that you have come, for now you will tell 
me lots and lots of beautiful stories, and I’ll tell 
all of them to the teeney weeney ones. You 
came just in time, too,” added Betty, flushing 
and wriggling in her chair as the others laughed 
at her again. 

“Seeing that you have made such good use 
of my stories, I think perhaps I can manage to 
relate a few more, Little Blue Eyes,” promised 
Uncle Jim. 

“Betty really has done splendidly, and the 
teachers are all talking about how well she tells 
her stories,” interposed Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ Yes. And they want me to tell the children 
all about the New Testament folks, but I can’t. 
Will you tell me about them, dear, dear old Uncle 
Jim? ” she begged. 


i5 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 

Uncle Jim stroked his chin and gazed up at the 
ceiling. 

“ It is rather odd, but that is exactly what I 
had planned to do, Betty, : ” he said, exchanging 
understanding glances with Mrs. Burroughs — 
glances that were not lost to Betty’s keen eyes. 

“Mother, I believe you told Uncle Jim,” she 
cried indignantly. 

“ I did write to him that I thought you would 
like to hear about the New Testament people,” 
admitted Mrs. Burroughs. “ But I did not tell 
Uncle Jim what you had been doing at Sunday- 
school, Betty dear.” 

“ I call that fine of you, Aunt Margaret,” said 
Dick beamingly. “Father hasn’t said a word 
about it to me, either.” 

“ Tell me a story now, Uncle Jim,” begged the 
little girl. “ I am just dying for a story, Uncle 
dear.” 

Mrs. Burroughs suggested that the children 
wait until Uncle Jim had rested from his journey, 
which had been rather a long one, but Betty in¬ 
sisted. She liked to have her own way, and ordi- 
16 


WHY BETTY WAS GLAD 


narily did, but this time she did not. Uncle 
Jim said he would begin his stories later in the 
day, because he first wished to have a little time 
to talk and get acquainted with the family after 
the year's separation. So Betty had to content 
herself with that arrangement. 

It was not until after supper and the dishes 
had been put away that Uncle Jim announced 
his readiness to tell Dick and Betty a story. 

“ Children," he began, after they had comfort¬ 
ably seated themselves in the parlor, and Mrs. 
Burroughs had begun embroidering a sofa pillow, 
"the stories that I shall tell you on this visit 
are the most beautiful stories ever told. I know 
you will think so if I am able to tell them half 
as well as they should be told. Our first little 
story we will call, ‘The Child in the Manger.' 
Now please give me your close attention." 


17 

3 — Uncle Jim's Stories from New Testament. 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


THE STORY OF THE WISE MEN AND THE STAR 

4 6 '1T7H0 knows what occurred on Christmas 
t T day more than two thousand years 
ago? ” questioned Uncle Jim. 

“ We know, but we can't tell,” spoke up Betty. 

“ Yes. We want you to tell us, Father,” added 
Dick. 

“Very good. That is what I am going to 
speak about this evening — about the first Christ¬ 
mas present in the history of the world — and 
the greatest,” added Uncle Jim gravely. 

“ Many hundred years had passed since Daniel 
prayed in his window at Babylon, looking towards 
Jerusalem, the holy city where the temple of 
Jehovah stood. Strange, sad happenings had 
brought much sorrow to the Israelites in the 
Promised Land. Only a few of the chosen people 
lingered among the olive-crowned hills and on the 
18 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


grassy slopes where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 
had watched their flocks clustering round the 
wells. Foreign kings had ruled over these poor 
deserted fragments of Abraham’s great nation; 
and many strangers had come to live in the midst 
of them. But always the sons of Israel dreamed 
of some great King, their Saviour, who would 
rise up to bring them together again under his 
protection, and would bring back the glories of 
David to the Promised Land. 

“ At the time of which I am now speaking, the 
Jews were under the control of the Romans, and 
were very unhappy. The Romans, you know, 
made them pay very heavy taxes, and the Jews 
were praying for the Messiah.” 

“What did they mean t>y Messiah?” asked 
Betty Burroughs. 

“By the Messiah they meant a Deliverer. 
They thought he would come to them in the form 
of a mighty king who would destroy their ene¬ 
mies. They had no thought that their deliverer 
would be a lowly child.” 

“ You mean Jesus? ” interposed Dick. 

*9 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


“Yes. Herod, as you know, was reigning 
over Judea at this time. There lived there a 
priest, Zacharias, and his wife Elizabeth, who 
were sad because they had no children. One day 
when Zacharias was in the temple burning in¬ 
cense, an angel suddenly appeared before him. 
The angel told him not to be afraid, and promised 
that God would give him a son who would be 
called John, meaning, ‘the Lord is gracious/ 
This son was to be a Nazarite, which meant 
that he was to drink neither wine nor strong 
drink, and that he was to be possessed of the holy 
spirit. 

“Zacharias doubted what the angel told him, 
and demanded a sign. Because of his lack of 
faith the angel told him that he should not speak 
again until after the child was born.” 

“What sign did he want? ” asked Dick 

“ I suppose some indication from God that the 
angel came from Him,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“Some months after that an angel, who was 
the angel Gabriel, was sent by God to Nazareth 
in Galilee, to visit Mary, the wife of Joseph. 


20 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


Both were poor and humble, and both belonged 
to the house of David. I told you about David, 
you will remember, in * Uncle Jim’s Stories from 
the Old Testament.’ 

“ ‘ Hail, thou that are highly favored, the Lord 
is with thee; blessed art thou among women/ 
said the angel. 

“ Mary wondered what the angel meant, where¬ 
upon the visitor explained that she was to have 
a son whom she was to call Jesus, because he 
would save his people from their sins. Mary 
quite naturally was filled with wonder, but, un¬ 
like Zacharias, she did not doubt. 

“ In the meantime Elizabeth’s son was born, 
as the angel had promised, and its relatives urged 
the mother to call him Zacharias. Elizabeth 
said no, and pointed to the speechless father to 
indicate that it was for him to say. Zacharias 
wrote, ‘ His name is John.’ Children, no sooner 
had he written the words than speech came back 
to him and he praised God.” 

“That was a wonderful miracle,” said Dick. 

“Zacharias was punished for doubting God’s 


21 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


messenger. I think it served him right,” ventured 
Betty. 

“ Betty, it is not for us to judge,” reminded 
Uncle Jim. “Give me your attention, please. 
Because the Roman emperor had ordered that 
the Jews be taxed, Joseph and Mary had to 
journey all the way back to their home city of 
Bethlehem to give an account of their posses¬ 
sions. They reached Bethlehem after what must 
have been a very trying journey, for it was a 
long distance away. When they got there they 
found that the inn where they intended to sleep 
had no room for them, and they were forced to 
go to the stable to sleep, the place where camels, 
asses and cows were kept. And that starry, cold 
night the Saviour was bom,” said Uncle Jim in 
a tone filled with deep feeling. “ God had sent 
to Mary the little child that he had promised her. 

“Mary wrapped the precious baby in long 
swaddling clothes, and laid him down ever so 
tenderly on the soft hay in a manger, while the 
big-eyed animals looked on in wonder. There 
was no pretty cradle for the Saviour to rest in; 


22 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


just a manger and a bundle of hay. That was 
all, children.” 

“ How beautiful and how wonderful,” mur¬ 
mured Betty. 

“The sun had set on the plains near Bethle¬ 
hem, the little old town where David had lived 
and Ruth had gleaned in the barley-fields so long 
ago; and the wide, dark fields were covered with 
sleeping flocks of sheep. Small folds, like huts, 
were built all about; and some of the pretty 
wooly creatures had crept inside with their baby- 
lambs; others were resting outside, in the quiet 
open air. Their shepherds sat at the doors of the 
folds, watching the shadowy flocks, and listening 
to the tinkling sound of a little brook that ran 
through the hills near by. For, you know, Christ¬ 
mas in Palestine is more a time of rain than of 
soft white snow. 

“ As they sat there, suddenly a brilliant light, 
strange and lovely, seemed to fall about them 
from nowhere and to send their shadows, long 
and dark, upon the rough grass; and as they 
looked round, all startled and wondering, they 


23 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


saw that the light came from a beautiful angel, 
who stood in the midst of it. The shepherds 
were frightened. But the angel spoke to them 
in a voice that was both joyful and kind. 

“ ‘ Fear not/ he said. ‘ Behold, I bring you 
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 

“‘ For unto you is born this day in the city of 
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 

“ ‘ And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall 
find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying 
in a manger!* 

“He finished speaking, and all at once the 
whole sky and earth seemed to be filled with 
many more angels. Their wings were like golden 
light, and their robes seemed to be made of the 
stuff of stars. And they praised God, saying: 

“ ‘ Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth 
peace, goodwill towards men ! y 

“ The shepherds looked and listened, and held 
their breath, as the great song swept out from 
those starry hosts over the plains and hills. And 
then, gradually, the beautiful music died away, 
the shining vision faded, and nothing was to be 


24 



Frontispiece 























































THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


heard but the little stream, nothing seen but the 
dark slumbering forms of the sheep. 

“ Then the shepherds turned to each other in 
wonder. 

“ ‘ We will go to Bethlehem/ they said. ‘ Beth¬ 
lehem is the city of David. There, too, are the 
stables of the inn, where mangers are built for 
the oxen and the asses to eat from. The angels 
sang of a wonderful newly-born babe whom we 
should find in such a manger. We will go and 
see.’ 

“ So they took their staffs, and set off up the 
rocky hill-paths toward the white houses of 
Bethlehem which glimmered under the sky. 
There they went at once to the inn. It was built 
in a sort of little square, round an open space 
where the cattle belonging to travelers could lie 
down and sleep. The travelers themselves found 
shelter in small rough rooms, set right against 
the outside walls, and kept dry with a kind of 
thatched roof. And the shepherds, as soon as 
they reached this strange eastern inn, began to 
ask if any wonderful child was to be found there. 


25 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


“ Nobody knew of one. But some people said 
that two travelers from the country, a man called 
Joseph, and his wife Mary, had arrived at the 
inn too late to find an empty room, and so had 
been obliged to take shelter in one of the caves 
of the rocks just outside — a cave which was 
really used as a stable. And they said that Mary 
had had a little baby born there and that the 
shepherds could find both her and the baby if 
they went to look. 

“ So the shepherds went away again into the 
darkness, past the closed doors of the travelers' 
huts, and past the asses and oxen that were all 
lying asleep in the big square yard; and when 
they got outside they gazed at the slope of the 
hill to see if they could discover the cave. A few 
yards off, among the dim shapes of the white 
high rocks, they saw a feeble light. So they felt 
their way along the road in its direction, and 
found themselves at the opening of the cave. 

“The light came from a small clay lamp, 
shaped like a saucer, with a burning wick float¬ 
ing on the oil. It shone softly on the rocky lime- 
26 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


stone roof of the cave, and on the dim figures of 
a man and a woman inside; and, more softly still, 
it shone on the face of a tiny baby, who lay 
wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger, fast 
asleep. 

“The shepherds knew, then, that they had 
found what they had come to seek, and that the 
little baby in the swaddling clothes was the Sav¬ 
iour, who was Christ the Lord. They looked at 
the wee sleeping face in great, glad awe; and 
then they answered the questions of Joseph and 
Mary, who were gazing in amazement at the 
strange men gathered together, whispering, at the 
open entrance of the little rocky cave. 

“They told Joseph and Mary what had hap¬ 
pened down on the plains, just below Bethlehem. 
They gave the story of the bright angels, and the 
thrilling song that had swept through the night 
and died away at last up in the stars. And when 
they had explained it all they turned to other 
people who had come out from the inn and drawn 
near the cave, and told the story all over again, 
and how God's angels had told them where to 


27 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


find the holy child Jesus, and that he was the 
Son of God. 

“ As the people listened to the marvelous story, 
there was amazement on their faces at first, then 
they laughed and said they did not believe that 
the baby lying in the manger there was the Sav¬ 
iour of the world. 

“The shepherds knew, for they had seen the 
angels, and had been told by them, so they went 
back to the fields again to care for their sheep, 
and to praise God for all the wonderful things 
they had heard and seen. That, my dear chil¬ 
dren, is the first of the sweet stories of Jesus that 
I shall tell you.” 

“ How perfectly wonderful it is! ” cried Betty. 

“ Marvelous! ” agreed Dick. 

“Why was it, Uncle Jim, that God did not 
let all the people know that Christ was born? ” 
questioned Betty. 

“For reasons that he alone knew, my dear. 
Perhaps it was because to let the news get abroad 
might bring peril to the little child, for, as you 
will see later on, there were those who might 
28 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


have put the infant Jesus to death,” replied 
Uncle Jim. 

“ How terrible,” murmured Betty. “ I can 
imagine how awed the shepherds must have been 
when that great band of angels came down sing¬ 
ing, and announced that the child had been born.” 

“Yes, but how much greater must have been 
their awe when they found themselves looking 
down on the face of the child that was to save 
the world,” said Uncle Jim. “ Mary, in the mean¬ 
time, told no one what she knew as to the 
destiny of her babe. Perhaps she too feared, but 
at any rate her trust was in God, and she left 
to him all things save the loving care that a 
mother could give her own child. And that the 
lowly Mary gave with all her heart and all her 
soul.” 

“What I don’t understand is why God sent 
those humble shepherds to look at the baby 
Jesus,” wondered Dick. “ Why was that, 
Father? ” 

“ God knew why he did it,” replied Uncle Jim. 
“The shepherds were among the faithful, who, 


29 


THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 


as you know, had long awaited the coming of the 
Messiah who was to deliver them. This, per¬ 
haps, explains their call to visit the holy baby. 
Then again, they were humble people, just as 
Joseph and Mary were.” 

“ Did the shepherds spread the wonderful 
news of Jesus’ birth when they got back home? ” 
asked Betty. 

“ I presume they told their families and 
friends, but you may depend upon it that they did 
not talk to strangers about the birth of the child 
who was destined to rule the world. That will 
be all, children. I hope you have enjoyed the 
story of the world’s first Christmas.” 

“ It was perfectly wonderful!” exclaimed 
Betty. 

Uncle Jim patted Betty’s yellow curls. 

“Next I will tell you ‘ The Wise Men from 
the East, the Story of the Star of Bethlehem/ ” 
he said, rising from the table. “ Come, Dick, we 
must have our walk.” 


30 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


THE STORY OF THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM 

UT HAVE been thinking,” said Betty as she 
A seated herself at the breakfast table next 
morning. 

“ That is always an excellent thing to do,” in¬ 
terrupted Uncle Jim good-naturedly. “What 
have you been thinking about, Little Blue 
Eyes?” 

“About the story you told us last night. I 
have been thinking very hard, too — thinking 
that I want ever and ever so much to tell it to 
the little ones at Sunday-school next Sunday.” 

“ Well, why not? ” asked Uncle Jim smilingly. 

“ Because I never, never can tell it the way you 
did. You told it so beautifully that it almost 
made me cry. I think I did cry over it a little 
after I got into bed last night.” 

“ Girls should not cry,” spoke up Cousin Dick. 


3i 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


“ They have a better right than boys have to 
cry whenever they want to,” retorted Betty 
spiritedly. 

“Because,” resumed Dick, “crying is bad for 
their pretty eyes, and it sometimes makes their 
noses red.” 

“ I think you are real mean,” pouted Betty. 

“ If you really intend to tell the story on Sun¬ 
day, don’t try to plan out what you are going to 
say,” observed Uncle Jim. “ Just keep thinking 
over the things I have told you, then when Sun¬ 
day comes, and you stand up before the class, 
the words will come so naturally that you will 
not realize how beautifully and well you are tell¬ 
ing the story. Try it and see if I am not right.” 

“ I will,” promised Betty. “ But, if you and 
Dick go with me you must sit way back so I can’t 
see you. I never can talk about anything when 
any one of my family is looking at me,” she 
added. 

Uncle Jim murmured that he had not noticed 
that peculiarity in her, and Betty chattered 
nearly all the rest of the meal. She talked so 


32 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 

much that the others seldom found a chance to 
say a word. 

“ Now I am ready for ‘ The Story of the Wise 
Men/ ” finally announced the little girl as she put 
down her fork and leaned back expectantly. 
“When you are ready you may begin, Uncle 
Jim.” 

“No, no, Betty dear. You mustn’t ask it 
now,” said Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ I want to hear about them now because I 
feel so comfortable and so — so spiritual,” in¬ 
sisted Betty, which assertion caused Uncle Jim 
to laugh out loud. 

“ Little Blue Eyes, after that explanation I 
surely must tell you the story now,” he said, 
smiling down into Betty’s eyes. “ Margaret, you 
won’t mind, will you?” he asked, turning to 
Betty’s mother. 

Mrs. Burroughs said she didn’t mind, if Uncle 
Jim really wished to tell the story, adding that 
she did not think he would care to tell a story so 
early in the day. 

“Last year,” began Uncle Jim, “I told you 
33 

'3 — Uncle Jim's Stories from New Testament. 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


about King Solomon’s palace, and all the wonders 
it contained. Do you remember about it, chil¬ 
dren? ” 

“ Yes, Uncle,” answered Betty. “ Are you 
going to tell us about that again? ” 

" No. At the time of which I am now speak¬ 
ing, King Solomon’s temple was no longer in ex¬ 
istence. It had been destroyed many years be¬ 
fore the birth of Jesus. 

“ But there was a big and beautiful building 
in its place, set high above the hilly streets. 
Its rooms were magnificently decorated, and 
court after court led into each other; sometimes 
with cedar roofs, sometimes open, like walled 
gardens, to the sky. Here there were cypress 
trees, dark and tall, and all kinds of fruit and 
flowers, and rose-fringed fountains with beauti¬ 
ful bronze figures, and doves the color of opals 
flying round the shining pools. And Herod, the 
King, who had built the new palace, lived there, 
surrounded by servants. 

“What a different place from the little cave 
with the tiny manger at Bethlehem! 


34 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


“ Herod, although of the Jewish faith, was not 
a Jew by birth. He was allowed to call himself 
King by the Romans, who were masters now in 
Palestine, but not by the Jews themselves. 
Herod had heard that some day the Jews would 
again have a King from their own people. He 
thought this meant that he might not be able to 
continue to reign in his magnificent palace. 

“ In a country far away from Bethlehem there 
lived some wise, rich men, very learned and of 
much influence. They knew more than any other 
persons about the stars, and were studying them 
every night when the skies were clear. 

“ One night they saw a new star, the most 
brilliant and most beautiful star their eyes had 
ever gazed upon, and so wise were these men that 
they knew at once that God had put this star 
in the sky as a sign to them that he had sent 
his son into the world as a little baby, and they 
were joyous over this wonderful news. 

“ 1 Let us go and worship him, for he is God’s 
son, and let us take him presents, for he is a king/ 
they said. 


35 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


“ They did not wait, but at once prepared for 
the journey, taking with them pieces of gold and 
silver, and precious jewels and sweet incense, 
which, with other gifts, they placed in packs 
slung over the backs of their camels. They 
journeyed on through the night, following the 
beautiful star, and at last they came to Jerusa¬ 
lem. The people there, seeing that these were 
strangers from a strange country, wondered what 
they were there for, and they wondered still more 
when the Wise Men began to talk. 

“ ‘ Where is the baby king that is just born? ’ 
they asked. ‘ For we have come to worship him/ 
“ The people replied that they knew of no 
baby king, and the Wise Men did not know 
what they ought to do next. 

“ About this time King Herod heard of the 
presence of the Wise Men, and was greatly dis¬ 
turbed. His servants told him that there were 
in Jerusalem certain Wise Men who had traveled 
there from their own countries in the East, where 
they were almost like kings, and they were asking 
where the new King of the Jews had been bom, 
36 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


because, they said, they had seen in the East a 
strange and glorious star, and, knowing that this 
meant the birth of a very great King, they had 
come all the way from where they lived to wor¬ 
ship him. 

“ Everybody in Jerusalem was now talking 
about the Wise Men, though the people in the 
city had not yet heard of the angels that the 
shepherds had seen at Bethlehem. So Herod 
sent messages to the Chief Priests, and to the 
Scribes, and asked them to come to the palace 
and talk the matter over with him.” 

“ Who were the Scribes? ” interrupted Betty. 
“ I don’t believe I know about them.” 

“ I guess they were writers,” suggested Dick. 

“ Not exactly, Son,” replied Uncle Jim. “ The 
Chief Priests were Jews who helped Herod to 
govern; and the Scribes were people very much 
like lawyers. And they knew, too, that prophets 
had said, long ago, that a wonderful new King 
should reign over the Children of Israel. So 
when Herod, sitting on his throne, asked them 
where this great King, who was called Christ, 


37 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 

should be born, they were able to say that it 
was to be in Bethlehem. 

“Herod let them go without asking anything 
more. But he found out where the Wise Men 
were staying, sent for them secretly, and talked 
to them about the star and its meaning. Then 
he, himself, told them to go to Bethlehem. 

“ ‘ Go/ he said, ‘ and search diligently for the 
young child, and when ye have found him, bring 
me word again, that I may come and worship 
him, also.’ 

“ But Herod’s heart was very wicked as he 
spoke, because he meant to kill the Baby Christ 
if he could find him. However, the Wise Men 
did not know this, so they set out, as he had told 
them, for Bethlehem.” 

“What a terrible thing for Herod to do,” ex¬ 
claimed Betty in a shocked tone of voice. “ Was 
he really so bad as that, Uncle Jim? ” 

“Yes. He was a very cruel man, and had 
caused many innocent people to be put to death, 
■either because he was afraid of them or disliked 
them. 


38 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


“No sooner had the Wise Men started, riding 
on camels, with their servants about them, than 
lo! they saw again in the sky the great shining 
star that they had seen in the East! It went 
before them, all trembling in a diamond glitter, 
until it came above a little house among the hills. 
Then it stood quite still, and hung, sparkling 
with light, in the sky; and this little house was 
the place where the Baby Jesus now lived. 

“Mary and Joseph, you know, had not their 
real home at Bethlehem. They had gone there on 
the night when the Baby Jesus was born, so that 
Joseph might be ‘ taxed/ or have his name 
written down in a kind of census, according to a 
new order that had been made. A lot of other 
people — shepherds and men who worked in 
vineyards — had gone there for the same reason. 
It was because of this great crowd of people that 
Joseph and Mary had not been able to find 
room at the inn. But now the census was taken, 
and they were living in a little house among the 
hills, with nothing to mark it out from other 
places but the great dazzling star. 


39 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 

“ When the Wise Men reached the starlit 
house, they got down from their camels and 
asked if they might go in. You may be sure that 
Joseph did not hesitate to let them enter. When 
they got inside they saw Mary, the fair young 
mother, with the little baby in her arms. And 
they fell down and worshiped him. 

“ Then they called their servants, and there, 
in the little peasant's cottage, they opened their 
parcels of treasures. And they gave gifts to the 
tiny infant King — gold, that is so beautiful and 
precious, and sweet-smelling delicate frankin¬ 
cense and myrrh; and they worshiped him all 
the time, kneeling on the clay floor where they 
gave praise to God and worshiped him before 
the sleeping babe over which Mary kept jeal¬ 
ous watch. It must have been a relief to her 
when finally the Wise Men rose, and bowing 
low before the child, went out into the night. 
The beautiful star that they had followed so 
faithfully still hung shining in the sky right over 
the lowly home where the sleeping Jesus lay. 
They were a silent company, and we can imagine 


40 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


that their thoughts must have almost overpow¬ 
ered them because of the privilege that had been 
theirs,” said Uncle Jim in conclusion. 

Betty wished to know why Joseph and Mary 
went away to such a lonely place. 

“ Because,” answered Uncle Jim, “ they had 
been led there by God's star. God knew that the 
babe would be in peril were the father and 
mother to remain openly in Jerusalem. Then 
again, being humble people, they undoubtedly 
preferred to remain in humble surroundings, and 
there they could the better worship God and the 
wonderful child that had been given to them.” 

“Did the Wise Men go back and tell Herod 
that they had found the child? ” asked Dick. 

“That is another story, Son,” replied Dick’s 
father. “They were all God-fearing men, and 
you may rest assured that they did what they 
believed to be right. In the meantime the search 
was made in Jerusalem for the babe, but Herod’s 
men looked in vain.” 

“ Why didn’t they follow the star? ” asked 
Betty. 


4i 


THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST 


“ Because they did not know the meaning of 
the brightest star in the heavens. Only those 
chosen by God to know, understood its mean¬ 
ing,^ answered Uncle Jim. “ Had Herod had 
the slightest thought that the star was God’s 
sign he soon would have found the child Jesus 
and had him slain.” 

“ Did Joseph and Mary know that their baby 
was God’s Son? ” asked Betty. 

“Yes, they knew in a way,” Uncle Jim in¬ 
formed her. 

“What a wonderful thing for them,” mur¬ 
mured the little girl. “ I don’t wonder that they 
wished to hide. I know that, had I been in 
Mary’s place, I never should have slept a wink 
for fear someone might do harm to that precious 
baby. Please go on, Uncle Jim.” 

Uncle Jim Burroughs shook his head. 

“No more until to-night; then, if you are 
very, very good, and help Mother through the 
day, I will tell you another story. I think we 
shall call it ‘ The Angel’s Whisper, the Story of 
the Flight to Egypt.’ ” 


42 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 

THE STORY OF THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT 



NCLE JIM was reading the letters that he 


vJ had got from the post office after supper 
that evening. He was absorbed in what he was 
reading, and did not notice that Dick and Betty 
were creeping cautiously toward him. But he 
realized their presence when both suddenly 
swooped down on him and grabbed him about 
the neck. 

“ No, sir. You can’t get away from us by pre¬ 
tending that you are busy,” cried Betty. 

“ We want to hear about the Angel’s Whisper 
that you — ” began Dick. 

“ I am perishing from curiosity to know what 
secret the angel told, and — by the way, to whom 
did the angel whisper, Uncle? ” interrupted 
Betty. 

“ If you insist upon my telling the end of the 


43 


THE ANGEL/S WHISPER 


story first, I will do so, but I warn you that is 
all you will hear of the story,” retorted Uncle 
Jim. “ Betty, have you been a real good girl 
to-day? ” 

“Yes. I’ve been so good that it hurt me a 
little. I don't like to be good all the time — I 
mean not so awfully, awfully good. You know 
what I mean,” she added lamely, getting red in 
the face. 

Uncle Jim laughed heartily. 

“ Tell me how good you have been,” urged 
Uncle Jim with a twinkle in his eyes. 

“ Well, this morning I talked to Mother while 
she washed the dishes, then I talked to her while 
she made the beds, and talked to her some more 
while she was trimming the rose bushes, all so she 
wouldn't get lonely and feel sad because Daddy 
is far away on the sea. Didn’t I help her a lot, 
don't you think, Uncle, and wasn't I very, very 
good? ” 

“ I don’t call that helping much,” chuckled 
Dick. “ I could do better than that myself.” 

“ Dick, I don't agree with you. What greater 


44 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


service can one human being do for another than 
making that other being happy and keeping him 
from getting lonely? Betty, I agree with you 
that you have been a good girl, a very good girl, 
and for that you shall hear the story of ‘The 
Angel’s Whisper.’ ” 

“ While the Wise Men were in the home of the 
infant Jesus, the camels were fed and watered 
for the journey that was before them, for you 
know they had been ordered to return to Jerusa¬ 
lem and report to King Herod, so that, in case 
they had found the child, the king might have 
him put to death, though of course they did not 
know of Herod’s intention. So full were these 
great and good men of the glorious news they 
had received that they were eager to get back to 
Jerusalem and tell the people that they had found 
the baby king. But this was not to be, as you 
will see in a moment. 

“ The Wise Men set out on their camels, after 
the animals had been loaded for the journey, and 
rode away in the clear, cold night, now and then 


45 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


looking back at the shining star, and uttering 
fervent praises to God. 

“ The gates and roofs of Jerusalem were a long 
way off, and finally, worn out with fatigue and 
excitement, the Wise Men decided to make a 
camp among the hills for the night. You see, 
children, they had traveled from far-off countries, 
so they brought their tents and their food and 
their servants with them. There were no com¬ 
fortable hotels for them to rest in, and few vil¬ 
lages where they might find rest and refreshment. 
Traveling in those days, my dears, was a serious 
business, with many hardships as well as perils. 

“When it was decided to make camp the ser¬ 
vants, at their masters’ command, proceeded to 
pitch the big tents and build fires that warmth 
might be had. The camels had been turned 
loose and were groaning as they fed, as camels 
are always groaning whether working or feeding.” 

“ They must be very unhappy animals,” ven¬ 
tured Betty. 

Uncle Jim gave no heed to the interruption. 

“Supper was prepared and eaten in silence, 
46 


THE AN GEL'S WHISPER 


after the Wise Men had given thanks; then, sit¬ 
ting by the fire, they spoke in low tones of the 
wonders that they had seen, of the child and of 
what his coming meant to the world. After a 
time they lay down on their blankets and quickly 
sank into deep sleep. The servants, in another 
tent, also fell sound asleep. A great quiet settled 
over the hills, then, and out of the darkness two 
white figures, showing faint and ghostly in the 
uncertain light, might have been seen approach¬ 
ing the tent of the Wise Men. 

“ Children, they were the angels of God who 
had come back to the hills and plains near Beth¬ 
lehem, but they came in a different way than be¬ 
fore. This time no rainbows of light surrounded 
them with a great sweet anthem of gladness. 
They trod softly, silently, with folded wings, 
through the darkness. One angel halted and 
stood silently waiting. The other glided past 
the sleeping servants who had been stationed to 
guard the entrance of the tent in which the Wise 
Men slept. This angel lifted the inner curtains 
and crossed the floor on which mats had been 


47 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


placed, and where the Wise Men were sleeping, 
wholly unaware of the presence of the messenger 
from heaven. 

“ The angel paused and looked down on these 
great and good men, then bending low, the angel 
whispered a dream into the ear of each sleeper. 
Not one awakened.” Uncle Jim paused thought¬ 
fully. 

a What was it that the angel whispered?” 
begged Betty eagerly. 

“ The dream that the angel whispered to the 
Wise Men told them that they must not go on to 
Jerusalem, and sternly forbade their telling King 
Herod where the little royal baby was to be found. 

“ Though still sound asleep, the Wise Men 
listened. That may seem queer to you children, 
but when those Wise Men awakened in the early 
morning each knew that he had received a mes¬ 
sage from God through his angel.” 

Betty interrupted to ask how the Wise Men 
knew that. Uncle Jim said that God probably 
talked to the souls of the men. 

" I know how that is,” spoke up Dick. “ Father 
48 


THE ANGEL'S WHISPER 


has spoken to me when I was sound asleep, and 
in the morning I knew that he had spoken and 
remembered what he said. I guess that was the 
way with the Wise Men.” 

“ Did the Wise Men obey the command? ” 
asked Betty. 

“ Yes. They ordered their servants to fold the 
tents, pack up the food and prepare for a long 
journey. As they rode away on the camels they 
looked back in the direction of Joseph’s home 
and saw that the bright star had faded in the 
light of dawn. The Wise Men did not go in the 
direction of Jerusalem, but traveled towards their 
own country by another route.” 

“What became of the second angel and what 
did it do? ” asked Betty. 

“ That one went on to the little home under 
the great star,” answered Uncle Jim. “ He, too, 
crept softly, with folded wings, into the house 
where Joseph and Mary and the Baby Christ 
were sleeping with one little light burning in 
the room, for Mary did not wish to be in the 
dark. Her concern for the child was too great. 

49 

4 — Uncle Jim’s Stories from New Testament. 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


“ Joseph stirred in his slumber, and half opened 
his tired eyes. 

“ Joseph must have thought at first that the 
light was burning with a strange new beauty, 
for the room was full of misty, golden light. 
Joseph first thought he was dreaming; then he 
opened his eyes fully and saw in his dream the 
glistening of white robes.” 

“ Then he wasn’t awake at all, was he? ” asked 
Dick. 

“ Awake, though sleeping, if you get what I 
mean, Son,” replied Dick’s father. “Then it 
seemed to him that the wings of a great bird 
were gently fanning his face, and sitting up on 
his low mattress, Joseph saw an angel of God 
standing before him. Joseph gazed in awe, but 
spoke no word. 

“ The face of the angel was grave and beauti¬ 
ful, and when he spoke he spoke with great 
earnestness. 

“ ‘ Joseph,’ he said. ‘ Arise and take the young 
child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be 
thou there until I bring thee word. For Herod 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


will seek the young child to destroy him.’ The 
angel meant that Joseph and Mary were to stay 
in Egypt until they were told that they might 
leave there with safety,” explained Uncle Jim. 

“ When the angel had spoken, his earnest face, 
his white robes and his shining wings began to 
grow dim. He faded slowly from Joseph’s sight, 
and the little light flickered and glowed as be¬ 
fore in the dim room. 

“ Joseph knew that he must obey the angel. 
He sprang up, now fully awake and prepared to 
obey the command of the angel of God. 

“ The Baby Christ had already been taken to 
the temple at Jerusalem to be blessed, and had 
been named Jesus. I will tell you more of that 
in another story, and also about the great new 
temple that Herod was building in order to show 
his greatness to the people. Joseph in that mo¬ 
ment remembered all this, and knew how angry 
and jealous Herod must be to think that another 
king had been born in the land. Joseph hurriedly 
awakened Mary and related to her all that the 
angel had said to him. Mary was greatly 
Si 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


alarmed, and together they hastily began gather¬ 
ing up their belongings. The two spent all that 
day in preparing for their journey, and when 
darkness fell, Joseph brought an ass to the door. 
Mary came out with the Baby Jesus in her arms. 
The child was wrapped in many thicknesses of 
cloth to keep it warm, for the night was chill. 
Joseph helped her to mount, then taking the ass 
by its halter, he led the animal away, down the 
hilly path, and on to the long, long road that led 
to Egypt. No human eyes had witnessed the 
leaving of Joseph and Mary with their precious 
burden. 

“When they were gone Herod learned that 
no one could tell him where the little king of the 
Jews was to be found. The king’s rage was very 
great, and it was a sad, sad day for Bethlehem, 
for Herod gave orders that every child under 
two years of age should be put to death, hoping 
that among them might be the Baby Christ.” 

“ Oh! What an awful thing to do! ” cried 
Betty. 

“ Shameful I ” muttered Dick. 


52 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


“Some soldiers, sent by Herod, marched into 
town and immediately began to carry out the 
orders of the king. They entered every house, 
and wherever they saw a baby they snatched it 
from its mother’s arms and put it to death. 

“ Up one street and down another they passed, 
leaving death behind them. Mothers pleaded, 
but the soldiers had no pity; their work went on. 

“Children, it is not necessary for me to tell 
you that there were sad hearts in Bethlehem that 
night, for nearly every house was a house of 
mourning, not alone in the city, but in all the 
country round about it. But Jesus was not 
among the little ones who lay dead. 

“Joseph and Mary stayed in Egypt safely 
until Herod died. Then, one night, the angel 
appeared again in their little chamber, and told 
Joseph that he might take the baby back. But 
when Joseph found out that Herod’s son was 
reigning in his father’s place he made up his mind 
that it would not be safe to go back to Bethle¬ 
hem. While he was wondering what to do, the 
angel came to him a third time. 

S3 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


“This third time, the angel told him to go 
and live for good in the north of the Holy Land, 
at a place called Nazareth. So Joseph and Mary 
turned aside from Bethlehem on their return 
journey and went and settled at Nazareth, a 
strange high town built on the side of a moun¬ 
tain. Here Joseph set up again in business as 
a carpenter, and the little baby, who was to 
become so great and wonderful, grew up to be 
a boy. 

“ That, children, is the end of one of the most 
tragic stories that the Bible has recorded. It is a 
sad story too, yet the whole world rejoices that 
the life of the Baby Christ was spared,” con¬ 
cluded Uncle Jim. 

As he finished he bent a keen glance on Betty. 
Her eyes were swimming, and her voice sounded 
unnatural as she spoke. 

“I know,” soothed Uncle Jim. “I always 
choke up when I tell the sad yet happy story, 
and my heart aches for the babies whose lives 
were sacrificed because of a cruel king’s jealousy. 
You see what jealousy does. Cast it out, Betty 

54 


THE ANGEL’S WHISPER 


and Dick, for it is an evil thing, and can bring 
only unhappiness to everyone concerned. 

“ I promise, Uncle Jim,” answered Betty, 
deeply moved by the story that she had just 
heard. “ I wish, though, that you would tell me 
another one. If you don’t I know I shall lie 
awake all night and dream about the poor little 
babies that Herod had put to death. Tell me 
something that will make me forget. Will you? ” 

“ Dick, do you think you can stand another 
one? ” 

Dick said he could listen to his father’s stories 
all night long and not weary of them. 

“ Very well. Betty, please fetch me a glass of 
water, and give me a moment or so to quench 
my thirst and think,” said Uncle Jim laughingly. 

“ What is the next story to be? ” asked Betty, 
as she returned with a glass of water for Uncle 
Jim. 

“The title of this story is, ‘The Vision that 
Simeon Saw, the Story of the Temple,’ ” he said. 


55 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


THE STORY OF THE TEMPLE 


OU'RE a dear.” Betty rubbed her soft 



JL cheek against Uncle Jim's as he sat 
thinking and sipping the water that she had 
brought him. 

“ So are you,” retorted Uncle Jim, slipping an 
arm about Betty's waist. 

“ I'll warrant that is more than you ever call 
Dick. Now, isn’t it? ” teased the little girl. 

“ I don't want him to call me such things,” 
interposed Dick. “Men don't dear each other, 
do they, Father? ” 

“ Not exactly in those words, Son,” was Uncle 
Jim's laughing rejoinder. 

“ Please let us forget about Dick's rudeness, 
and have the story,” begged Betty. “ I am just 
perishing of curiosity to know what vision Simeon 
saw. .Who was Simeon? ” 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


“ You will hear about that in a few moments. 
We have just time to tell the story, then you 
two young people must get to your beds. And I 
think this story should last you for at least a 
couple of days,” teased Uncle Jim. 

“ No, no,” protested Betty and Dick in chorus. 

“ We will promise not to ask for another one 
until after breakfast to-morrow,” promised Dick 
soberly. 

Mrs. Burroughs and Uncle Jim laughed heart¬ 
ily, as he put down his empty glass and passed 
his handkerchief across his lips. 

“ I believe I have told you that Herod was 
building a wonderful temple to further impress 
the people with his greatness, from which you 
will gather that besides being a jealous king, he 
was a very vain king. 

“ To begin, you should know that among the 
many stories about Mount Moriah, where Herod’s 
temple now stood, there are three stories of 
angels. 

“ The first angel was the guardian of little 
Isaac, whose voice saved the child and blessed 


57 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


his trusting father, Abraham. The second angel 
was one which appeared to David. The third 
was Gabriel himself, the great angel of whom 
Daniel used to dream, whose wings were wide, 
whose flight was swift and sure, and whose face 
was turned always towards the glory of God. 

“ About the second angel you must read fully 
in the stories of David, the King and sweet 
psalmist of Israel. This messenger from God 
stood in the heights of the mountain at a time 
when there was much sickness in the land of Ca¬ 
naan, and a drawn sword was in his hand, which 
stretched out over Jerusalem. The place on which 
his feet rested was a threshing-floor, flat, rocky, 
and open to the winds. And David, the King, 
saw this Angel of Death, and fell on his face and 
prayed. Then the great angel sheathed his 
sword, spread his wings, and floated away; and 
the sickness was stayed. So David bought the 
threshing-floor, and had an altar built there to 
the Lord; and round about this altar Solomon 
reared the wonderful temple you know about, 
and the Ark of God’s Promise was brought there, 
58 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


and set up in the Holy Place, behind the curtain 
that was called the Veil. 

“ But, as you know, Solomon’s beautiful temple 
was broken down and burned by a mighty King 
who brought big armies to fight against Israel 
from the land of the Chaldees; and the Ark of 
Jehovah was probably buried in the burning ruin. 
As the Lord had first spoken in the holy fires of 
a mountain, so in the unholy fires of another 
mountain His glory seemed to pass away. And 
His people were carried captives into Babylon, 
and many of them stayed there under the rule of 
the great Persian Kings. 

“Then one of these Persian Kings, who was 
called Cyrus, gave an order that the Temple of 
Jehovah, the God of Israel, was to be rebuilt. A 
man named Zerubbabel set up the altar again, 
and built God’s house about it with timber from 
the King’s own forests. And many of the gold 
and silver ornaments were brought back from 
Babylon — but the Ark of the Promise, with the 
holy Tablets of the Law inside it, was never 
again seen in the Temple of Jerusalem. 


59 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


“Zerubbabel’s Temple — or, as some call it, 
the Temple of Nehemiah, who wrote a great book 
about it — lasted for five hundred years. It was 
dedicated with great joy by those faithful people 
at Jerusalem who believed that Jehovah’s bless¬ 
ing would once more be poured upon them, but 
with bitter tears by those who remembered the 
lost glory and beauty of the House that Solomon 
had built. 

“ And then, some time before the Baby Christ 
was born, Herod promised the people that he 
would set up a temple even greater than that 
of Solomon — a building of snowy marble and 
glittering brass. And to the altar in the heart 
of this still unfinished temple, where carpenters 
and carvers were busy pulling down the old 
quiet courts of Zerubbabel and setting up the new 
splendid walls of Herod, the angel Gabriel came. 

“ The angel showed himself at the hour of the 
evening service. A priest called Zacharias stood 
alone in the Holy Place. From the outer courts 
came the long, low murmur of hundreds of people 
at prayer. Zacharias was holding high the vessel 
60 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


of incense, from which the pale smoke swirled 
lazily about the altar, and the perfume of crushed 
spices lay heavy on the air. It was an oriental 
scene of much beauty, children. 

“ As Zacharias stood there with eyes raised, 
there suddenly appeared at the right of the altar 
the wings of an angel. They were Gabriel's 
wings of light." 

“ Wasn't Zacharias terribly frightened? " asked 
Betty in an awed tone of voice 

“ I should think he might well have been, 
Betty." 

“ I know that I should have been scared half 
to death," murmured the little yellow-haired girl. 

“However, it must have seemed to Zacharias, 
for a moment, as if Jehovah had descended once 
more upon the Mercy Seat, as in the days of old," 
resumed Uncle Jim. “Then the Angel Gabriel 
spoke in a voice low, but reaching to every part 
of the great enclosure. 

“Gabriel told Zacharias that a son would 
shortly be born to him — a son who would be a 
prophet to the highest, and would prepare the 
61 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


way for the coming Messiah, the God-given King 
of the Jews. 

“ Gabriel faded away, and a faint breeze 
stirred the air in the temple, and once more the 
faint smoke-wreaths circled about the altar. 

“ As Gabriel had promised, a son was born to 
Zacharias. That son was John the Baptist, who 
prepared the hearts of the people for Jesus. 

“ The preachings of John the Baptist were 
heard by great numbers of people, and you may 
be quite sure that the story of the Angel Gabriel 
soon got abroad, and many priests who served in 
the temple, and many faithful men and women 
who came there daily to pray, were waiting 
eagerly for the birth of the promised King.” 

“ Meaning Jesus,” said Dick. 

“Yes, Son. They told each other that the 
time must be very near; and some of them who 
were old and weary, and waiting patiently for 
death, whispered to the young ones a secret prom¬ 
ise that was treasured deep in their hearts — a 
promise that they should not pass away before 
5they had seen the Lord Christ.” 

62 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


“How did the old people know this — know 
that Christ was coming soon? ” wondered Betty. 

“ It had been prophesied for many years,” re¬ 
plied Uncle Jim. “ Then again, you will remem¬ 
ber that the Angel Gabriel, on his call at the 
temple, told Zacharias that a son would soon be 
born to him — a son who would not only be a 
prophet, but who would prepare the way for the 
God-given King of the Jews. His son, John the 
Baptist, did this and did it well. 

“ One of the old and feeble people was called 
Simeon. Everybody in that part of the country 
knew him well, and knew that he was a good and 
upright man. He loved God, and prayed that 
he might live long enough to see the promised 
King that God was to send to earth. 

“ It was just four weeks after the birth of Jesus 
that Simeon felt a strange yearning and urging 
to go to the temple. Being old and feeble he 
dreaded to make the journey, but that impulse 
within him told him to go, so he started out, 
leaning on his staff. The way seemed long, but 
finally reaching the temple, he hobbled up the 

63 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 

/ 

steep steps to a court with high columns all 
around it, and entered the court through two 
great brass doors, called ‘ The Beautiful Gate/ 
This court was the Court of the Women. Simeon 
paused and looked about him. Many women 
and children, and priests and singers, all in their 
bare feet, were moving back and forth over the 
marble floor. 

“ Simeon waited patiently, but for what he did 
not know. He knew only that he had been called 
by some strange power to go to the temple. All 
at once his eyes fell upon a little group coming 
towards him — a man, a fair gentle woman, who 
was tenderly holding a tiny baby pressed closely 
to her breast.” 

“I know! It was Mary and her wonderful 
baby,” cried Betty, her eyes sparkling with ex¬ 
citement. “ Uncle, was that the vision that you 
promised to tell us about? ” 

Uncle Jim half nodded and went on with his 
story. 

“The vision came a few moments later,” he 
said. 


64 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 

“ The young mother paused and dropped 
some coins into a large box shaped like a trumpet 
which stood against the wall. The money was 
a thank-offering for her first-born son, and was 
just as much as she would have paid for two 
pigeons, which poor people, in those days, offered 
to God when He sent them their first little boy. 
Simeon watched her pause, and his eyes dwelt 
earnestly upon the child that she carried. And 
then a vision unseen by the rest of the people 
in the temple opened out for Simeon round the 
mother and the child; and the old man saw that 
the whole temple was bathed in the glory of 
God.” 

“ What is meant by that, by the temple being 
bathed in the glory of God? ” asked Dick. 

“Son, that is a difficult question to answer. 
We have read that a rich golden light filled the 
place, and that the air was filled with sweet in¬ 
cense. You can readily understand how God’s 
very presence must have gripped every heart at 
that great moment. The vision revealed the 
truth, and in that instant Simeon knew.” 

65 

5 — Uncle Jim’s Stories from New Testament. 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 

L 

“ Knew that the babe was Jesus? ” questioned 
Betty scarcely above a whisper. 

“Yes, Blue Eyes,” replied Uncle Jim. 
“Simeon hobbled forward on his staff and took 
the tiny baby from its mother. He pressed it to 
him, and rapt words fell from his lips, while his 
face, so worn and furrowed, was radiant with 
joy. Can you children not imagine what a mo¬ 
ment that was for the feeble old man? What 
thoughts must have passed through his mind 
when he realized that he was holding the 
.Son of God pressed close to his breast? ” asked 
Uncle Jim. 

“How beautiful!” murmured Betty. 

“ Yes, I think I can imagine something of how 
Simeon felt,” agreed Dick. 

“‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart 
in peace, according to thy word! For mine 
eyes have seen thy salvation! Which thou hast 
prepared before the face of all people! A light 
to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy 
people Israel! , cried Simeon. 

“Joseph and Mary heard the words fall from 
66 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 


Simeon’s lips, and they looked, in grave wonder, 
from the old man to the little child. Then 
Simeon gave the holy baby back into his mother’s 
arms; lifted high his hands, and blessed the 
parents of the sacred infant that lay so calmly 
against Mary’s bosom. And Simeon told them 
that the child had been sent for a wonderful sign, 
and that, though many in Israel should fall away 
from him, yet, through him, they should rise 
again. 

“ And then, just as Joseph and Mary were go¬ 
ing to take the baby away, an old, old woman 
came slowly across the marble floor towards where 
the little group stood. She, too, saw the vision of 
beauty that seemed to surround them; and she 
echoed Simeon’s joy, and gazed with glad eyes 
upon the child. You see, the instant she saw 
the baby in his mother’s arms she believed that 
he was the Son of God, and she raised her voice 
to tell all the people who had thronged about 
that the Saviour had come into the world. 

“ Happy as Simeon had made Joseph and Mary 
with his praises and his blessing, he told Mary 
67 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 

that, though Jesus was the Saviour, people 
would speak against him and would refuse to be¬ 
lieve in him. Then the aged man uttered a 
warning. He told Mary that, one day, she would 
have a sorrow so great that it would pierce her 
heart like a sword.” 

“ What did he mean? ” asked Dick. 

“ The great grief that came to her when she 
saw Jesus nailed to the cross.” 

“Yes, Uncle Jim, but how did Simeon come 
to know all these things, while others did not? ” 
wondered Betty. 

“ God told him by his holy spirit, my dear. 
Those old wise men to whom God spoke were 
called the prophets, and they knew many of 
God’s secrets through his will and his holy spirit 
entering into them. 

“With the grave promises and blessings of 
Simeon and the old woman still sounding in 
their ears, Mary and Joseph walked slowly from 
the temple and began their journey home, and it 
was a long time, many years, before Jesus was 
again seen in the holy temple.” 

68 


THE VISION THAT SIMEON SAW 

w 

“ Then what happened? ” asked Betty, know¬ 
ing that the story was finished, but hoping to 
lead Uncle Jim on to tell them more. 

“You will hear that in the next story, which 
I shall tell you at another time.” 

“Do you know whether Jesus could talk or 
understand that day when Simeon recognized 
him?” persisted Betty. 

“ Being but a young baby, how could he? ” 
answered Uncle Jim smilingly. 

“ I thought perhaps, being God’s child, he 
could do most anything,” murmured Betty, and 
Uncle Jim passed a hand across his face and 
nodded to Mrs. Burroughs. 

“We old people think we are very wise, 
Margaret, but a child can ask us many questions 
that we cannot answer,” he said. “ I will next 
tell you ‘The Little Carpenter of Nazareth, the 
Story of Jesus’ Boyhood.’ ” 


69 


THE LITTLE CARPENTER 
OF NAZARETH 

THE STORY OF JESUS* BOYHOOD 

HEN Uncle Jim came downstairs next 



▼ T morning both children were waiting for 
him with eager, shining faces. 

“Oh, Uncle Jim. I had a perfectly wonder¬ 
ful sleep last night, and I dreamed of angels and 
a lot of heavenly things. The last story made 
me sleep. It surely did.” 

“ Hm-m-m-m! ” mused Uncle Jim, stroking 
his chin. “ If my stories put you to sleep, I'm 
afraid that I don't tell them very well. I'm 
sorry they have such an effect as that on you, 
Blue Eyes.” 

“Oh, Uncle, surely you don't think I mean 
it that way,” protested Betty, her face going 
suddenly crimson. “ You know I don't.” 

“ We shall see. Is breakfast ready? ” he asked. 


70 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


“Aunt Margaret says we may sit down in a 
few moments,” spoke up Dick. 

“ Then tell us a little story before breakfast,” 
urged Betty. 

Uncle Jim shook his head. 

“ No! ” he answered in a tone that was meant 
to be severe. “ Before breakfast is too early. 
You know I never could think on an empty stom¬ 
ach. Then again, I put you to sleep last night, 
and perhaps the sleep is not all out of your eyes 
yet. We will wait until you are wide awake.” 

“ Oh, I’m wide awake now, Uncle Jim. I am! ” 

Just then Mrs. Burroughs called them to 
breakfast, and Betty gave up begging for a story. 
After breakfast, however, Uncle Jim took a chair 
out into the yard on the shady side of the house 
and sat down to read the morning paper. But he 
did not get far with this. Betty came over and, 
sitting on the arm of his chair, began to chatter to 
him. After a few moments of this she deftly 
slipped the newspaper from his hands and passed 
it to Dick. Dick laid it down, and sat down on 
the ground before his father. 


7 * 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


“ Now we are all ready, Father,” he announced. 

“ Ready for what? ” twinkled Uncle Jim. 

“ For a story, dear old Uncle Jim,” teased 
Betty. “You know you promised to tell us 
about the Little Carpenter, and — ” 

“Yes. But I did not promise to relate it at 
this particular time. However, I suppose I 
might as well begin. You two precious young¬ 
sters won’t give me a moment’s peace if I do not. 

“ As you no doubt know, this story has to do 
with the boyhood of Jesus. Much to the regret 
of the world, the Bible tells little of that time of 
the Saviour’s life. Enough, however, has been 
told to enable us to picture him to ourselves in 
his humble home in Nazareth. 

“Mary and Joseph were quite poor people, 
and Joseph worked as a carpenter at Nazareth, 
and had all sorts of things to make — yokes and 
carts for the oxen, and the wooden parts of 
ploughs. 

“ As the Lord Jesus grew out of babyhood into 
boyhood he began to learn the carpenter’s work; 
and was taught to use hammers and axes and 


72 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


tools, just as Joseph did. He must have thought, 
often, of how Joseph’s ancestors worked for God ; 
because among those ancestors was not only that 
very Bezaleel into whose heart Jehovah had put 
the wisdom and craftsmanship of a great artist, 
but also the architect Zerubbabel, who had set up 
the temple that Herod was now pulling down to 
replace with his own magnificent building. 

“ The child, we read, was filled with wisdom. 
It dwelt in his heart, for he had come straight 
to the world from God himself. There, working 
among the long pieces of timber — trees brought 
perhaps from other countries in big ships, or 
cedars from Lebanon, or palms from Jericho — 
was the little boy who knew the secrets of the 
God, who, in the Garden of Eden, had planted the 
Tree of Life. Perhaps he dreamed of those old 
goodly trees — who can tell? Perhaps as he cut 
and carved the wood he sang softly to himself the 
song of Isaiah, with its fragrant promise: ‘ I will 
plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, 
and the myrtle and the oil-tree! I will set in 
the desert the fir-tree and the pine and the box 


73 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


tree together ! 9 We cannot tell what his thoughts 
were exactly, but we know that as he grew in 
body, so he grew strong in spirit, and was filled 
with the wisdom that is of God. 

“ His mother must often have thought of him, 
wonderingly, as she went about her quiet daily 
work — grinding com in the morning, baking 
cakes from the flour, and going to the well at 
sunset to fill her pitchers with cool water. Each 
dawn she would set wide the door of the little 
house, even before the sun had risen over the dis¬ 
tant hills of Galilee; each dusk would see her 
light her little lamp of oil and set it in the win¬ 
dow. Then the family would gather for supper, 
and perhaps talk over the old tales of Israel. 
Because, you know, Galilee was a country in 
which there were many strangers, or Gentiles, as 
they were called, and they had their own his¬ 
tory, which was not the history of the people who 
still worshiped the Lord Jehovah. 

“ Then again, we may think of Jesus as going 
to school, and with other boys, learning to read, 
playing games with them, and living just like his 


74 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


little companions, doing everything that he had 
to do with all his heart, and in the best way. We 
may be sure that he was obedient to his teachers 
as he was to his parents.” 

“ Did they have schools in those days? ” ques¬ 
tioned Betty. 

“ Yes. We are told that even so long as eighty 
years before the birth of Christ, schools were 
established all over Palestine, and all children 
were obliged to go to school,” said Uncle Jim. 
“ Jesus could be no exception to the rule, which 
applied to all, as I have told you. 

“ Is it not wonderful to think that the Son of 
God lived just like other little boys in the village, 
going to the same school, learning the same les¬ 
sons and performing the same tasks? You may 
be sure, however, that he gave his teachers no 
cause to punish him. You must not forget, 
though, that there was one great difference be¬ 
tween Jesus and his companions. Do you know 
what that difference was, children? ” 

“ Yes, he was God's Son,” answered Dick 
promptly. 


75 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 

“ Of course. And he was without sin. He 
never did a wrong thing. Do you think any of 
us could truthfully say that about ourselves? 
But we should try our best to live as Jesus lived, 
pure of heart and body. He was tempted, just 
as we are tempted, but he prayed to his Father in 
Heaven and always did the thing that would 
please God. We surely should be able to do that, 
though we never can hope to be perfect, like 
Jesus. 

“ Even as a boy, Jesus was filled with wisdom. 
Everything that he did was right and kind, and 
not a person of his acquaintance could rightly 
accuse him of a wrong thought or a wrong deed. 

“ Having been a boy among boys himself no 
doubt helped him to feel and know what chil¬ 
dren want, and no doubt it was his own child¬ 
hood that helped to give him the great love he 
showed for children after he grew up. 

“Then came the long-looked-for day when 
Jesus was twelve years old, the age at which the 
Jewish boys were, for the first time, taken to 
the great feasts held at Jerusalem. These were 
76 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 

the feasts of the Passover, which God had com¬ 
manded the Jews always to keep, to remind them 
of the time, years and years before, when he had 
saved them in a wonderful way from being slaves, 
and had taken them out of the country where 
they were very miserable and unhappy. 

“This was a great event in his childhood. 
There was the long journey to be taken, a journey 
of about eighty miles, and there were the hun¬ 
dreds and hundreds of people, flocking from the 
East to go up to Jerusalem at the same time; 
and there were numbers of boys too, besides Jesus, 
going for the first time to the holy city. How 
eager they must all have been to see that city 
and temple, of which they had heard so much. 

“So the boy, Christ Jesus, set off with his 
parents on the journey, through the hills and 
plains of Samaria, to the temple on the Holy Hill, 
for the great festival of the Passover. The faith¬ 
ful Israelites who dwelt in Nazareth were not 
very many in number, but were enough to make 
up into what were called ‘ companies/ These 
little groups kept together on the road. 


77 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 

“ On the way up to Jerusalem, Jesus kept with 
his parents. When they got there everybody 
took their offerings to the priests at the temple, 
and worshiped there for three days, in memory 
of the time when Jehovah had brought them 
safely out of Egypt; and then they set off for 
home again. 

“ There must have been no little crowding and 
pushing at the different gates of Jerusalem as 
all the companies, with their carts, and their 
camels, set out soon after dawn to return to the 
homes that were scattered through the length 
and breadth of Palestine; and in the confusion 
Mary and Joseph missed their little son. But 
they felt sure he must be among their friends 
from Nazareth, and they started without mis¬ 
giving. As the day wore on, the road through 
Samaria grew quieter, emptied of all except those 
who were going in the direction of Nazareth. 
And then Joseph began to move from group to 
group, seeking the boy Jesus. But he was no¬ 
where to be found; and in dismay and anxiety 
his parents turned back to Jerusalem. 

78 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 

f 

“ For three days they sought him in the busy 
city, searching through the markets, and the 
houses, and the great theater and hippodrome 
that the Greeks and Romans had built under 
Herod. But he was in none of these places; and 
at last they found him — where do you think? 
Within the holy shadows of the Temple of 
Jehovah itself! 

“ He was seated, a young, slender, earnest boy, 
in the midst of the grave old doctors of learning; 
and he was asking them all sorts of questions 
about the Books of the Law of Jehovah, and the 
story of the Holy Tent, and the rod of Aaron, and 
the Garden of Wonderful Trees. Sometimes he 
listened gravely to their answers. Then some¬ 
times he shook his young fair head as he disa¬ 
greed with them. 

“ There was a large room in the temple where 
these learned men, called chief priests, used to 
sit to teach men and boys. They taught them 
the law of Moses, and examined them in the 
Scriptures. Jesus had gone there to be taught. 

“ The learned men listened to his questions in 


79 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


amazement. They did not know who he was, 
but they knew that they had never seen such a 
wonderful scholar, and they were astonished to 
find how much he knew, how quickly he under¬ 
stood, and how wonderfully he answered their 
questions. You know, children, that whatever 
Jesus did he did with all his might. This was 
another thing that made him so different from 
all other children of the village.” 

“ Father, don’t you think those wise men knew 
who Jesus was? ” asked Dick. 

“ No. The priests did not yet know to whom 
they were talking. As I have already told you, 
it was there that his parents found him, and you 
may be sure that they were greatly relieved. 
They had suffered so much anxiety for him that 
his mother, though rejoicing in his safety, was 
still hurt, and she chided him. 

‘“My child, why have you treated us like 
this? ’ she demanded. ‘ Your father and I have 
been looking for you with aching hearts/ 

“ Jesus looked at her as she chided, but his 
eyes were full of dreams. 


80 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


“ ‘ Why were you looking for me? ’ replied 
Jesus earnestly. ‘ Did you not know that I must 
be about my Father’s business? ’ Neither Joseph 
nor Mary understood what he meant, for when 
Mary spoke of his father she meant Joseph, but 
when Jesus said ‘ Father 9 he meant God.” 

“ How strange!” murmured Betty. 

“ I think Jesus’ parents must have almost for¬ 
gotten that this boy, who was always so obedi¬ 
ent, and loving, and gentle, was God’s own son. 

“ Jesus, still obedient, got up and gazed about 
him soulfully, then turned and strode from the 
temple, accompanying his parents back to his 
earthly duty and his heavenly dreams in the car¬ 
penter’s shop, on the slopes of the warm Naza- 
rene hill. 

“ As you already know, the Bible tells us very 
little about Jesus until he was grown up, and be¬ 
gan to go among the people teaching them, lov¬ 
ing them, healing their sick, and raising their 
dead. We do know, however, just what Nazareth 
was like, and that its slopes were green with 
vineyards, and its wild flowers were quite as 
81 

6 — Uncle Jim’s Stories from New Testament 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


beautiful as those which grew all about the Sea 
of Galilee. 

“ The carpenter shop was not a part of Joseph’s 
house, but was right in the middle of the bazaar, 
where, all day long, the people bought and sold. 
Those who wished their ploughs mended, or 
made, or planks sawn for their houses, would go 
to the shop and give their orders to Joseph. The 
boy, Jesus, would stand by, listening and ready 
to help in whatever was required. 

“ Think, children, of the humbleness and obe¬ 
dience of Jesus, even at that age. What a 
remarkable example he offered for the boys and 
girls of the world who were to come after him.” 

“ Did not the people have any idea who he 
was? ” asked Betty. 

“ No. The people in the bazaar, talking, 
laughing and bargaining, did not know that the 
earnest-faced child was the True Light of the 
World,” said Uncle Jim in conclusion. 

“ It seems so strange — I mean,” explained 
Betty, “ strange that God did not let the people 
know so that they might worship his son.” 

82 


THE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH 


“Apparently that was just what he did not 
wish them to do. He seems to have wanted Jesus 
to grow up among the people, that he might know 
them and feel for them and be one of them, and 
living this life Jesus would be the better prepared 
for his own great work.” 

“ Don’t you think Jesus knew who and what 
he was, Father? ” asked Dick. 

“ Well, Son, his answer to Mary in the temple 
would seem to indicate that he did. At least he 
must have had some idea, and the divine spark 
must already have taken deep root in his beau¬ 
tiful soul.” 

“ That is a wonderful story, Uncle Jim. I 
think I love the splendid boy even more than I did 
the helpless little baby that Herod was searching 
for to put to death,” declared Betty Burroughs. 

“ Betty, the longer you live and the more you 
know of Jesus and his beautiful soul, the more 
deeply will you love him. No more for now. I 
have finished,” announced Uncle Jim. “ Later 
on I will tell you a story called, ‘When the 
Heavens Opened, the Story of Jesus’ Baptism.’ ” 
83 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 

THE STORY OF JESUS* BAPTISM 


NCLE JIM was the last one to get up that 



V_J morning, for he had been reading late the 
night before and talking with Mrs. Burroughs 
about Betty and Dick. The interest of Betty 
and Dick in the stories of the Saviour, Uncle 
Jim declared, was most remarkable in children 
of their age. 

The children greeted him joyously when he 
stepped briskly into the breakfast room. 

“ I have been wondering all night — that is, 
all the time when I was not asleep — where Jesus 
got all his wonderful knowledge,” said Betty, 
perching on the arm of Uncle Jim’s chair. “ Did 
he learn it in school? ” 

“Some of it, but his great wisdom, of course, 
came from his heavenly Father,” replied Uncle 
Jim. “ The scriptures he learned from his 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


teachers, and with his remarkable mind, he must 
have known them as you know your own letters.” 

“ If the learned men in the temple did not 
know that he was the Son of God, whom did they 
think he was, Father? ” questioned Dick. “ With 
all his knowledge, his questions and his answers, 
they must have had some idea that he was more 
than an ordinary boy.” 

“ As I have said, Son, they were amazed, and 
probably did not know how to explain that re¬ 
markable thing, that wisdom that no other lad 
in Galilee had ever shown. We can imagine them 
gravely discussing him after Jesus went away 
with his parents, but what they thought, what 
they said, we shall never know. Children, you 
will have me telling another story if I don’t stop 
right where I am. Please let me have my break¬ 
fast, my dears,” begged Uncle Jim laughingly. 

“ And then a story? ” teased Betty. 

“ No, I think not. At least, not until later.” 

After breakfast Uncle Jim took the two chil¬ 
dren out for a stroll in the fields, and told them 
about many beautiful things in nature that re- 

85 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


minded him of incidents in the life of the Sav¬ 
iour. So delightful was that morning walk that 
the time passed quickly, and it was near the din¬ 
ner hour when finally they turned homeward. In 
the afternoon, at Mrs. Burroughs suggestion, 
they went for a long drive, and thus the day 
passed, with no story, but the children were hav¬ 
ing such a delightful day that they did not tease. 

That evening they accompanied Uncle Jim to 
prayer meeting, and when they returned it was 
too late for stories — bedtime for Betty and Dick. 

Immediately after breakfast next morning 
Uncle Jim invited the children to accompany him 
out to the orchard, at the same time asking Dick 
to fetch a chair. 

“ Sit down before me, both of you,” requested 
Uncle Jim after a deep breath of the fragrance 
of the old apple tree under whose shade they had 
taken refuge. 

“ We are ready for the story,” reminded Betty. 

“ And you haven't even teased me,” smiled 
Uncle Jim. “ The story I am about to relate to 
you is another of our beautiful stories, showing as 
86 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


they do the noble character and works of Jesus. 
Give me your attention now,” added Uncle Jim, 
who thereupon began his story: 

“ For many years, after the incidents related 
in the last story I told you, Jesus remained in 
Nazareth, working in Joseph's carpenter shop, 
growing stronger all the time, studying and think¬ 
ing when not at work in the shop, and all the time 
giving perfect obedience to his parents. He had 
not yet begun to preach, but he was doing his 
Father's will in the humble home of Joseph and 
Mary. 

“ The people had grown to be very wicked in 
those days. Wrong and cruelty were common in 
the land, but the people who still loved God 
grieved for the sins of the others, and looked for¬ 
ward and prayed earnestly for a Saviour to come 
and make everything good.” 

“ Didn't they know yet, that Jesus was that 
Saviour? ” asked Dick. 

“ No, Son. And, had they been told that the 
carpenter of Nazareth was the long-looked-for 
Messiah, they would not have believed it. 

87 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


“Now, God desired to prepare the hearts of 
the people to believe in his dearly beloved son 
and to receive him as their Saviour, so he sent 
a messenger to them. I have spoken of that 
messenger, who was John the Baptist. John the 
Baptist had been living in the desert amid the 
great silence there, being prepared by the Holy 
Spirit for the work that was before him.” 

“ To do what? ” interrupted Betty. 

“His Master’s bidding,” replied Uncle Jim. 
“ John wore a garment of camel’s hair, secured 
with a leather girdle, and lived on locusts and 
wild honey, which, so far as we know, was his 
only food. The locusts, as perhaps you know, 
were something like our grasshoppers, only much 
larger, and John’s food was such as only beggars 
ate. How thin he must have grown under this 
slender fare. He was thirty years old when God 
finally sent him forth to preach repentance and 
baptize those who confessed their sins. 

“ So great and good was John the Baptist that 
many persons wondered if he were not really the 
Christ, for he was a great prophet, and a great 
88 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


preacher, and God's Holy Spirit was in him from 
the day he was born, according to the promise 
made by the Angel Gabriel to John's father, Zach- 
arias. Great throngs went to hear this wonderful 
man, who was so unlike other men, and John 
spoke to them about their sins and urged all to 
repent." 

“ Did the people still believe that he was 
Jesus? " asked Dick. 

“ Many of them, I presume, did, but John said 
in reply to their question that a mightier one 
than he was coming, one who would baptize them 
with the Holy Ghost. 

“John's preaching did a great deal of good, 
and many began to realize how bad they had 
been, and they confessed their sins as a sign that 
they were ready to give up their evil ways. After 
that John preached to them about the Messiah. 
He impressed upon them that the Saviour who 
was coming was very great and very holy — so 
holy that even John himself was not worthy to 
stoop down and untie his shoe. He said the 
Messiah would baptize the people with the Holy 
89 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


Spirit, which would make their hearts clean, in 
the same way that pure water makes the body 
clean.” 

Betty interrupted to ask if all the people be¬ 
lieved John. Uncle Jim said no, but that many 
did. 

“Did he know that Jesus was already on 
earth ?” questioned Dick. 

“No, he did not, and John was always won¬ 
dering and looking for a sign that would reveal 
the truth to him. One day God spoke to him. 

“ ‘ When you see the Holy Spirit coming down 
from heaven and resting upon any one, you will 
know that that one is the Son of God/ were the 
words that God spoke to him.” 

“Did John and Jesus know each other?” 
asked Betty. 

“ Yes, and perhaps you do not know that Jesus 
journeyed all the way from Galilee to the River 
Jordan to be baptized by John. John did not 
wish to do this, saying that it was he himself who 
should be baptized by the carpenter of Nazareth. 

“ Jesus insisted, so John took the Saviour into 


90 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


the river and baptized him, and when they came 
out of the water a most wonderful thing hap¬ 
pened. The heavens suddenly opened, and before 
John’s wondering eyes the Spirit of God came 
down in the form of a dove and rested upon Jesus. 
A great voice was heard in the air. 

“ ‘ This is my beloved Son in whom I am well 
pleased/ said the voice, which was the voice of 
God himself. In that moment John knew that 
Jesus was indeed the Son of God, and he bowed 
down and worshiped him, and so did the faithful 
ones who had witnessed the baptism.” 

“ I should think that the people would have 
been frightened,” suggested Betty. 

“ They probably were profoundly impressed,” 
answered Uncle Jim. “You see, the people of 
Bible times were used to strange happenings and 
wonderful miracles, so were seldom frightened at 
them. 

“We will go on with our story now. 

“ Immediately after being baptized, Jesus went 
away into the wilderness, which was filled with 
terrors for the ordinary man. But Jesus was no 


9i 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


ordinary man and he felt no terror. It was a 
rough and rugged country where he went, filled 
with savage wild beasts such as lions, bears and 
wolves, and all night long they stalked about 
the Saviour’s resting place howling and roaring, 
but none ventured to attack him. We may 
imagine that he gave no heed whatever to these 
perils, for undoubtedly Jesus was spending his 
hours in deep thought and prayer.” 

“ What a terrifying experience for a man,” re¬ 
flected Dick. 

“ For you or me, yes, Dick. But not for the 
Son of God,” answered Uncle Jim. “Yet, for 
all of that, it must have been a trying experi¬ 
ence for this wonderfully sensitive man. 

“ For forty days and forty nights Jesus was in 
that dreadful wilderness; and all that long time 
he had nothing to eat. 

“ He was not quite alone there. Someone else 
was in the wilderness, — watching him, fearing 
him, and hating him. 

“ It was Satan. Satan knew quite well that 
Jesus was the Son of God; and he hated him be- 


92 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


cause he was good, and pure, and holy. But most 
of all he hated him because he knew that Jesus 
had come into the world to be the Saviour of 
sinners; and that he would save men from hell. 

“You know, Satan likes to see people — and 
children too — doing wicked things; and he is 
pleased when they are in trouble and unhappy. 

“So Satan thought that he would try and 
tempt Jesus to do wrong. For if Jesus had sinned 
only once, he could not have been our Saviour. 

“ When the forty days were over, Jesus was 
very hungry indeed. Satan knew that he was 
hungry; so now he came and spoke to Jesus. He 
said: 

“ ‘ If you are God's Son, make these stones into 
bread.' 

“He wanted to tempt Jesus to doubt his 
Father's love, and not to wait his Father’s time to 
feed him. 

“The Lord Jesus replied to Satan, and this 
is what he said: 

“ ‘ It is written, Man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by the word of God.' 


93 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


“ This means, that bread cannot keep us alive 
if God wills us to die; and that God can keep us 
alive without bread, if he wills us to live. 

“ How different Jesus was from Adam and Eve! 
They were in a beautiful garden, where they had 
everything they wanted; and Satan made them 
sin by tempting them to eat the one thing God 
had forbidden. They were disobedient. Jesus 
was in a lonely wilderness, wanting food, and 
Satan tempted him to eat, to satisfy his hunger; 
but he would not disobey his Father. 

“ Then Satan tried another way to make him 
sin. He took Jesus into the holy city, Jerusa¬ 
lem, and set him upon a very high part of the 
temple, — so high that it would make you dread¬ 
fully dizzy to look down, — and he said to him: 

“ ‘ If you are the Son of God throw yourself 
down from here. Do not be afraid. You trust 
your Father, and God will take care of you, and 
send his angels to keep you from being hurt.’ 

“ If Jesus had done as Satan told him, he would 
have been doing Satan’s will, and not God’s will. 
So Jesus answered the tempter again: 


94 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


“‘It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the 
Lord thy God/ 

“ Once more Satan tried to make him sin. 

“ He took Jesus to the top of a very high moun¬ 
tain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the 
world, and all the beautiful things that are in 
them, — all the thousands and thousands of 
people, all the gold, and all the treasures. Then 
he said to Jesus: 

“ ‘ I will give you all these things, and they 
shall be yours, if only you will fall down before 
me, and worship me/ 

“ Satan meant to say that if Jesus would only 
worship him, he would never tempt people any 
more; and so all the sin and misery that so 
grieved the holy heart of Jesus would come to 
an end at once. 

“Jesus was very angry. 

“ ‘ Get thee behind me, Satan! ’ he commanded ; 
‘ for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy 
God, and Him only shalt thou serve/ 

“That ended Jesus’ temptation, children, and 
Satan had failed,” said Uncle Jim. 


95 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


“ I can’t understand why Jesus permitted Satan 
to tempt him when he might easily have driven 
him away,” said Dick. 

“Yes, I have been thinking the same thing,” 
spoke up Betty. “ It was strange that Jesus 
went to Jerusalem and other places just because 
Satan asked him to go.” 

Uncle Jim smiled tolerantly. 

“ Jesus was carrying out God’s plans. Tempta¬ 
tion was his to pass through, and he probably 
knew it — knew that it was for a great and good 
purpose, and as you have already seen, he was 
ever obedient to God’s commands. In that is a 
thought for you, Betty and Dick, to remember 
always: If we obey God’s commands we shall 
be kept from doing Satan’s work and obeying 
Satan’s will. When you are tempted, stop, think, 
then say, ‘ Lord help me! ’ He will do it, and 
Satan will pass you by. That is all, my dears.” 

“What did Jesus do after Satan left him?” 
asked Betty. 

“Jesus must have been faint from hunger, 
then the strain of his experience with Satan must 
96 


WHEN THE HEAVENS OPENED 


have worn on him considerably, but God was 
watching over him. He sent angels to Jesus 
to feed him and comfort him. It was the Holy 
Spirit that had taken Jesus into the wilderness 
to be tempted, and it was this same Spirit 
that, after the temptation, took him into 
Galilee, where, for the first time, he began to 
preach to the people. From that time on until 
his death, he never ceased in his work of going 
about from place to place, doing good and talk¬ 
ing to the people about God.” 

“They knew who Jesus was, then, did they 
not, Father? ” asked Dick. 

“ Yes. But all did not believe in him,” replied 
Uncle Jim. “ Would you like to hear another 
story? After all that had occurred, I think I owe 
you another story, provided you wish to hear it.” 

“ Yes, yes,” cried the children in chorus. 

“Then listen to ‘ The Fishermen of Galilee, 
the Story of Jesus and His Disciples/ ” announced 
Uncle Jim. 


97 


7 — Uncle. Jim’s Stories from New Testament. 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


THE STORY OF JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES 

M RS. BURROUGHS came out to join the 
party under the old apple tree, and when 
Dick saw her approaching he ran forward and 
took from her the chair that she was dragging 
along behind her. 

“Thank you, Dick,” she said, giving him a 
radiant smile. “ Are you children having a 
pleasant time?” 

“ Wonderful, Aunt Margaret. Father has told 
us a most beautiful story and he is just about to 
begin another one. You are just in time to hear 
it,” he announced, placing the chair comfortably 
for Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ Don’t mind me, James. I want to hear the 
story, but I shall be very quiet,” she said 
smilingly. 

Betty declared that there was no joy in keep- 
98 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


ing quiet, but that she too would do the best she 
could. 

“Now I am ready,” she announced. “Go 
ahead, Uncle Jim.” 

Uncle Jim first briefly informed Mrs. Burroughs 
of the story he had just related, so that she might 
quickly get the drift of the one he was about to 
tell. Then Uncle Jim began. 

“ It was about this time that Jesus chose some 
friends to be with him, and these friends were 
called his disciples. These were men whom he 
loved deeply, and who loved and adored him, and 
they loved nothing so well as to be with him and 
to hear him speak. Jesus wished to make his 
disciples teachers and preachers like himself, and 
this is why he chose to have them with him all 
the time. When alone with them he would ex¬ 
plain everything to them about God and heaven. 
Little by little, as they were able to more fully 
understand, he taught them more and more about 
heavenly things. And now I will tell you how 
some of these disciples were inspired to go with 
Jesus. 


99 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


“ In the part of Palestine where Jesus grew up 
there is a lake high up among the mountains — 
a lake so large that it is called the Sea of Galilee. 
Big hills slope down to its beaches, and the sand 
among the pebbles of the shore is almost entirely 
made of tiny crushed shells. These shells sparkle 
in the sunshine, and the little waves of the sea 
sparkle too. The mountain-sides are thick with 
flowers, and tall palm trees, with plumy tops, 
fringe the paths. 

“ One day, on the beach, a young fisherman, 
John by name, sat mending his father’s nets. 
Near him were his father, who was called Zebe- 
dee, and his elder brother, who was called James, 
and, a little way out from the shore, in a big 
boat, were two other fishermen called Simon 
Peter and Andrew, who were throwing a net into 
the sea. 

“ It was calm and still, and John, the young 
fisherman, was very busy. But suddenly the 
hush was broken. Footsteps were heard and a 
strong clear man’s voice echoed out over the 
water: 


ioo 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


Simon Peter and Andrew, come! Follow 
me!’ 

“ Everyone on the beach looked up, John 
among them; and he saw that Christ was stand¬ 
ing just at the edge of the waves. 

“ Christ was grown up now, and John thought 
he had never seen a man so strong and kind and 
beautiful. The fisher-lad sat, his hands still 
holding the net, gazing earnestly, as Simon Peter 
and Andrew, without a word, pushed their boat 
nearer to the land, climbed out, and joined Jesus. 
Then Christ passed on, and came to where the 
young fisher-lad sat. 

“ And when he saw the lad, he loved him, per¬ 
haps because, as we know, John was so much 
younger than the other disciples. He held put 
one hand to the youth, and one to James, the 
elder brother. And he smiled and said, again: 

‘ Follow me! You two also — follow me! ’ James 
got up, and John did likewise, and they joined 
Jesus and became his disciples. 

“They went about with him, nearly always, 
after that, to a great many villages, and to big 


IOI 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


cities, some on the coast where the large mer¬ 
chant vessels lay in the harbors, and some on 
the shore, and some in the valleys where the corn 
grew all around. John liked the coast-towns best, 
because of the ships that he saw there. But 
always they came back to the Sea of Galilee, 
where John’s father and mother lived. Jesus 
lived there himself, at that time, in the small 
town called Capernaum. And very often he went 
out fishing with the fishermen, or traveled in their 
boats from one side of the lake to the other.” 

“What a beautiful friendship that must have 
been,” murmured Betty. 

“ Yes. Can you not imagine it — can you not, 
in imagination, place yourself in John’s place, 
living with Jesus, listening to his sweet-toned 
voice, and to his explanations of heavenly things? 
What would any one of us not give, not sacrifice, 
for that great privilege? But alas, it probably 
never will come to us in this life, so all the 
greater reason why we should so live as to meet 
him in heaven. But, to get on with our story,” 
said Uncle Jim. 


102 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


“ The people all knew that he was not like 
other men, just as he had not been quite like 
other children. They could tell, by the wonderful 
things he did, that God's power was in him and 
about him; and John loved him more and more 
every day of his life. 

“ Well, one day, Jesus had been doing kind and 
marvelous things among the people on the shores 
of the lake, and, when evening came, he was 
tired, and went up to the top of one of the hills 
to be by himself and to pray to his Father, under 
the blue sky. He told the fishermen not to wait 
for him, but to spread their sails, and go home 
across the lake without him. So they started off, 
just as the sun was setting, though, most likely, 
they knew that the moon would soon rise; and 
they sailed calmly on towards Capernaum. 

“ Then, just as happens on our own lakes some¬ 
times, suddenly the wind changed. John heard a 
sound in the breeze, and looked up at the sails in 
dismay. Quickly all the fishermen sprang to the 
ropes and reefed the sails, lest the storm should 
upset the boat. 


103 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


“They were just in time. Down swept the 
wind, shrieking and whistling, from the hill-tops, 
and struck the water so that it began to lash itself 
into big waves. And these great waves rolled 
against the side of the boat, and the fishermen 
were obliged to take their oars and turn the bow 
of the boat into the wind lest they should be 
upset. 

“ The moon rose over the hills, all big and 
bright, except when it was hidden by the dark 
racing clouds which tore over the sky. John must 
have trembled as he helped to row the boat, for 
he was very much afraid. 

“ One great cloud hid the face of the moon for 
several minutes, and there was nothing to be 
seen around the boat but dark shadowy caves of 
green water and mists of foam. Then all at once 
the moon shone out again; and, walking on the 
tossing sea, down a path of silvery glory, the fish¬ 
ermen saw the figure of Jesus coming towards 
them from the land.” 

“What a beautiful picture!” exclaimed Mrs. 
Burroughs fervently. 


104 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


“ Weren’t the fishermen frightened? ” won¬ 
dered Betty. 

“ I fancy they were amazed,” added Dick, nod¬ 
ding emphatically. 

“ Yes, they were amazed,” answered Uncle Jim. 
“ It was the first time they had ever witnessed a 
sight like that.” 

“ How did Jesus do it? ” cried Betty. 

“ He did it because he was Jesus,” answered 
Dick. 

“ You are right, Son,” nodded Uncle Jim, smil¬ 
ing down on Dick with approval in his eyes. 

“ John caught his breath in silence. Then he 
heard exclamations from the other fishermen as 
they bent to their oars; and one cried out under 
his breath that he saw a spirit. Another cried 
out, also under his breath, that it was the Lord 
Jesus. And Simon Peter called out, louder than 
any of them, to that wonderful, beautiful figure 
in the moonlight on the sea: 

“ ‘ Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee 
on the water ! 9 

“ The answer rang out — ‘ Come ! 1 
105 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


“ And Simon Peter sprang out of the boat into 
the sea. Then his courage and his faith failed 
him, and, with a loud cry, he began to sink; and 
John must have shut his eyes for a moment in 
fear. 

“ Then, all at once, the wind fell. When John 
looked up again, he could see Jesus holding 
Simon Peter by his side, as both stood upon the 
water. And together, in the sudden calm, the 
Master and his disciple stepped into the ship. 
But Jesus, as he supported Simon Peter, had re¬ 
buked him, very gently and softly, saying, ‘ Oh, 
thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
doubt?’ ” 

The children were silent and thoughtful for a 
moment after Uncle Jim finished. Then Dick 
spoke. 

“Do you think, Father, that Simon Peter 
really could have walked on the water? ” he asked. 

“ The answer is in Jesus’ reply to his appeal 
for help,” answered Uncle Jim. 

“ I guess Simon lost faith in himself when he 
felt the cold water under him,” suggested Betty. 

106 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


“The water wasn’t cold, it was warm, very- 
warm,” answered Dick. “You think he might 
have walked on the water had he had the faith, 
do you, Father? ” 

“Yes. Do you believe your faith would be 
great enough to try it even at Jesus’ bidding? ” 
questioned L T ncle Jim. 

“ I wish it might be, but I am afraid it would 
not,” replied Dick, thoughtfully. “Yet, I think 
I should be willing to try if I knew that it was 
Jesus who told me to come to him. Are we to 
hear another one this morning, Father? ” 

“ Yes. Please tell us another,” begged Betty. 

“James, I think I am in the mood to hear 
more,” said Mrs. Burroughs half laughing. 

Uncle Jim said there was no need to urge, for 
he intended to go on with another story anyway. 

“ What shall it be, Betty? ” he asked. 

“ Oh, tell us something about miracles,” sug¬ 
gested Betty. 

“No, not that. I will, however, tell you of 
some things that Jesus did further, and which will, 
I am certain, interest you children very much. 


107 


THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE 


We will call it, ‘ The Homecoming of Jesus, the 
Story of the Wedding Feast/ ” announced Uncle 
Jim. 

“A wedding feast! Oh, goodie,” cried Betty. 

“ Betty! ” rebuked Mrs. Burroughs. “ I am 
amazed at you. You should not treat such a 
subject so lightly.” 

“ Forgive me, Mother dear. I didn’t mean it 
that way. Please go on, Uncle Jim. You under¬ 
stand, don’t you? ” 

“ Yes, Blue Eyes, I understand,” he said. 
“Fetch me a glass of water and we will go on 
with the story.” 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


THE STORY OF THE WEDDING FEAST 

U NCLE JIM sipped the water that Betty had 
brought, and chatted with Mrs. Burroughs 
for a few moments, then thought a little while 
before he began to speak. 

“ Jesus had been away from home for a long 
time,” he said. “ In fact, he had not seen his 
parents since he went away to be baptized. Now 
he made up his mind to return to the humble 
home of Joseph and Mary. With him, when he 
went, were his disciples, of whom there were now 
five. Can you not imagine the joy of Mary when 
she received her wonderful son back to her arms? 
It must have been a glorious day for the humble 
parents of the boy, now grown to full manhood. 

“Mary found that Jesus had not changed in 
his sweetness, his kindness, though, at times, as 
she learned, he could be stern. She must have 
109 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


been happy, too, to see that people were begin¬ 
ning to believe in him and to call him the Son of 
God.” 

“ Yes, I just know how proud and happy Mary 
must have been,” murmured Betty. “ She had 
a right to be proud, didn’t she, Uncle Jim? ” 

Uncle Jim Burroughs nodded and continued: 

“ While Jesus was visiting at his old home, a 
marriage was about to be celebrated at Cana, a 
few miles from Nazareth. Mary had been invited 
to attend the wedding feast, and after the arrival 
of Jesus, he and his disciples also were asked to 
attend. Jesus accepted the invitation, and went 
there with his faithful friends and disciples. 

“ The people who gave the wedding feast were 
quite poor and could not afford much wine. In 
a very short time it was all gone, and the ruler 
of the feast was much distressed and probably 
embarrassed as well. 

“The mother of Jesus knew, however, that 
there was one sitting at the table who could help 
them, and so she just simply said to her blessed 
son: 

IIO 


\ 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


“‘They have no wine/ 

“ But Jesus answered her, * The proper time is 
not yet come for me to work/ 

“Mary felt quite sure that he was going to 
help them, so she turned to the servants, and 
said to them: 

“ ‘ Whatsoever he tells you to do, do it at once/ 
“ There were some large stone jars in the room, 
used for holding water. Jesus said to the ser¬ 
vants, ‘Fill those water-pots with water/ And 
they filled them quite full, up to the very top. 

“ Then Jesus said, ‘ Now pour out some in a 
cup, and take it to the ruler of the feast/ 

“ The servants did as they were told; and when 
the ruler of the feast had tasted it, what do you 
think he found? That it was no longer water, 
but wine — the very best wine he had ever 
tasted.” 

“ But how could that be? ” wondered Betty. 

“ Why, Jesus had changed into wine all the 
water that was in those large stone jars. So now 
there was enough, and more than enough, for all 
the guests. 


hi 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


“ The ruler of the feast could not understand 
where this wine, that was so much better than 
what they had been drinking, had come from. So 
he called the master of the house, and said to 
him: 

“ ‘ Why did you not give us this good wine 
before? 9 

“ But the master of the house did not know 
how it had come; he only knew that all he had 
before had been quite finished. 

“ But the servants knew all about it, and they 
told the whole story; how Jesus had made them 
fill the great stone jars with water, and how he 
had turned all the water into wine. 

“How astonished the people were! And do 
you not think that the master of the house was 
very thankful, and Mary very glad? 

“ And what do you think the disciples thought 
about it? They, too, were very much astonished 
at the wonderful thing their Lord had done; and 
it made them believe all the more firmly that he 
was the Son of God. 

“Jesus did miracles to show his power and 
JI2 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 

glory, and to show the people that he was 
the Christ. Yet in spite of the wonderful 
things he did, many people would not believe in 
him.” 

“ How did he do that wonderful thing? ” won¬ 
dered Betty. “ Changing water into wine in 
those few moments seems impossible.” 

“ It was one of God’s miracles, Betty,” an¬ 
swered Uncle Jim. “ How it was done only God 
knows. It is not for us to know. 

“Soon after this feast Jesus again left home,, 
and, with his disciples, went up to Jerusalem to 
keep the Passover, which I have explained to you 
before. 

“ You remember I told you what a very great 
number of people used to flock to the holy city to 
keep this yearly feast. They came from all parts ; 
from places a long way off, and even from other 
countries. The city was crowded. Every street, 
every house was full; and hundreds of people had 
to take shelter in tents because there was no room 
for them in any house. 

“ Then, besides all the people, there were hun- 

113 

8—Uncle Jim’s Stories from New Testament. 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


dreds of cattle, sheep and oxen, driven into the 
city for sacrifice, and doves and pigeons too; for 
these birds were what the poor offered in sacrifice, 
— those who could not afford to offer a sheep or a 
lamb. 

“ You may imagine how bright, and busy, and 
noisy it was in Jerusalem at that time; for it was 
a time of thanking God for past mercies. 

“ So Jesus went up into the temple to join in 
the solemn services there. 

“ But what a sight met his eye! 

“ The grand entrance-court of God’s house was 
full of cattle, and crowded with men who were 
buying and selling them! There were other men, 
with pigeons and doves, offering them for sale! 
There were yet other men, sitting before tables 
on which were piled heaps of money, who were 
called money-changers. And all the noise of the 
men and these animals could be distinctly heard 
in the inner part of the temple, where the services 
were going on.” 

“ Cattle at the entrance to the Lord’s House? ” 
cried Betty. “ How frightful! ” 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


“ And it was a beautiful building, too,” added 
Dick disapprovingly. “ Why was it permitted? ” 
“ It had become a custom in the first place, 
and again there probably was no one with power 
to prevent it,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ Four hundred years before it had been fore¬ 
told in the Scriptures that one day the Lord 
would suddenly come into his temple to cleanse 
and purify it. That time had now come. 

“When Jesus stepped into the temple and 
gazed about him one can imagine the stem look 
in his eyes. That he was angry at what he saw 
the Bible bears evidence. And Jesus lost no time 
in changing everything, for he could not bear that 
his Father’s house should be so dishonored. He 
immediately made a scourge of small cords, then 
after driving away all the sheep and oxen, he 
went where the money-changers were at work. 

“ The money-changers must have been greatly 
surprised when he strode up to them and threw 
down their tables, sending the money rolling 
away. The money-changers scrambled about 
gathering up their scattered fortunes, but Jesus 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


gave them little time to complete their work. 
With his scourge he drove them from the temple, 
the money men hurling harsh words at him as 
they fled before his righteous wrath.” 

“ It served them good and right,” observed 
Dick in a severe tone of voice. 

“ Yes, it did,” agreed Betty. “ What did Jesus 
do next? ” 

“ He went to the people who were selling doves. 

“ ‘ Take them away! * he commanded. 4 Do not 
make my Father’s house a place for buying and 
selling/ and the dove-sellers cleared out in a 
hurry,” announced Uncle Jim. 

“ None dared resist the power of his wonderful 
personality. Though they hated him for what he 
had done to them, they knew deep down in their 
hearts that he was right, and they were afraid 
of him and his wrath. Some of them, however, 
demanded a sign which would show that he had 
a right to clear the temple. Jesus made stern 
reply: 

“ ‘ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will 
raise it up/ he said. 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


“ His hearers did not understand what he 
meant, but he meant his bodily temple. When 
the proud priests and Pharisees heard what he 
had done, they did not dare complain, but they 
went to him and asked him for his authority. 
Jesus in reply gave them no sign, only a 
prophecy. 

“ Jesus foretold that they would one day kill 
him, and that he would rise again on the third 
day. 

“ Many miracles were performed by Jesus dur¬ 
ing the Passover week, but the Bible does not tell 
us what they were. Many people who saw the 
miracles came to believe in him, though their 
faith was weak, and Jesus, who could see into 
their hearts, knew that they did not love him, 
even though they believed him to be the Son of 
God.” 

“ If they believed that I don’t see how their 
faith could be weak, Father,” objected Dick. 

“ It is rather difficult to understand, Son. Per¬ 
haps they believed against their will. It doesn’t 
seem reasonable that any sane person could doubt 


THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS 


the holiness of that wonderful character. But 
Jesus felt that he could not trust them. That 
will be all for to-day,” finished Uncle Jim. 

“ No more stories, do you mean? ” pouted 
Betty. 

“ Daughter, I think Uncle Jim deserves a rest 
after all the talking he has done. I forbid his 
telling another story now,” said Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ I think I shall have to tell you a miracle story 
next. How would you like that? ” asked Uncle 
Jim. 

“ You know how much I shall like it,” returned 
Betty. “ I shall like it so much that I just simply 
shall not be able to wait until this evening.” 

Uncle Jim laughed and said he thought they 
would have to get along until the next day. He 
told them that stories, just for the sake of the 
story, did no good, or little good, and advised 
them to think over all he had said and thus pre¬ 
pare their minds for what was to come afterward. 

“ The next story will be ‘ The Magic Basket, 
the Story of the Barley Loaves/ ” he announced. 


118 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


THE STORY OF THE BARLEY LOAVES 

I T was late on the following afternoon before 
Dick and Betty were invited to join Uncle 
Jim on the rear porch for another story. Uncle 
Jim had business matters to think about and to 
write about. Added to this were the long walks 
that he frequently took all alone, though now 
and then Dick accompanied him, and on rare 
occasions Betty also was invited to go along. 

“ Well, Betty, what have you been thinking 
about since the last story? ” was his first ques¬ 
tion after Betty had settled herself at his feet. 

“ I have been thinking that the weather is 
very hot, Uncle Jim,” she answered brightly. 

“ That did not require much thinking, did it r 
Blue Eyes? ” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. 

“No,” admitted Betty. “Yes, I did think 
quite a lot after I got into bed last night, and 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


again this morning when it was cooler, but since 
noon I haven’t had a single thought.” 

“Tell me what you thought,” urged Uncle 
Jim. 

“ I thought that Jesus was a very brave man. 
Why, he wasn’t afraid of wild animals or any¬ 
thing. Just think what the money-changers 
might have done to him had they dared. 
Wouldn’t it have been terrible if they had at¬ 
tacked him and beaten him? How terrible that 
would have been. It makes me shiver to think 
about it.” 

“No danger of that. God was protecting his 
Son,” reminded Dick. 

“ Yes. But the people abused him shamefully 
at other times, didn’t they? ” retorted Betty. 

“ Son, Blue Eyes has the best of the argument 
there. You just remember, Betty, that when 
Jesus was made to suffer, it was for a good and 
great purpose, the working out of God’s plans. 
God could have protected his only Son whenever 
he thought it wise to do so. Shall we begin now, 
children? ” 


120 

























































































THE MAGIC BASKET 


“ Yes, yes,” cried Dick and Betty together. 

Mrs. Burroughs said that she, too, was ready to 
listen, so Uncle Jim cleared his thoat and began. 

“ I have told you of Christ’s walking on the 
water. You will remember that on the afternoon 
before he walked out to join the fishermen in 
their boat he had done many wonderful things, 
and that he had also been teaching the people 
about God, and about God’s love for the world.” 

Betty and Dick nodded. 

“ The Bible tells us, also, that he had been talk¬ 
ing to the people on the hills round about the Sea 
of Galilee at the other end from where Caper¬ 
naum stood. Not only that, but Jesus had been 
making sick people well, bringing happiness to 
the hearts of sorrowing ones, and doing many 
other kind deeds. While he was doing all this, 
and telling the people how to be good, great 
throngs climbed the steep hill to look and to 
listen to the words of Jesus,” said Uncle Jim. 

“ How many were there? ” Betty wished to 
know. Uncle Jim told her the Bible says there 
were five thousand men present on this occasion. 


121 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


Then Uncle Jim went on with his story, and the 
children listened attentively. 

“John, the fisher-lad, was there, of course, 
keeping as near to the Master as possible, and 
looking lovingly and eagerly up into his eyes, for, 
as you know, John loved this wonderful man who 
had chosen him for a companion. And John 
watched the crowds climbing the mountain-side 
from all parts — toiling up in the hot sunshine. 
Even travelers on the road through the hills, when 
they saw the crowd in the distance, stopped their 
camels and mules, and came up to see what was 
going on. 

“The Lord Jesus stood a little apart, among 
the rocks. His voice, as he spoke, rang out 
clearly, like a trumpet. And the people kept so 
quiet that your ears might have caught the 
tinkle of the water-courses down the hillside, 
and the rippling of the lake on the shore below. 

“At last even the Master was tired, and sat 
down, leaning back against the rocks with his 
eyes shut. But the people who had been listen¬ 
ing did not go away. A few of them had brought 


122 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


something to eat — dates, and little cakes, and 
honey. And, on the edge of the crowd, some boys 
were selling food out of baskets; just as you may 
often see boys selling cakes and other things 
to-day. 

“At last Jesus raised himself from the rocks, 
and looked at the great crowd of people; and he 
turned to one of his disciples who was called 
Philip, and asked: 

“ ‘ Where can we buy bread for all these tired, 
hungry people? They must want something to 
eat! ’ 

“ Philip shook his head. And the other dis¬ 
ciples looked round, first at the people, and then 
at the green hills. 

“ * This is a place without houses or markets/ 
they said. ‘ Send the people away to the distant 
villages for food and shelter/ 

“ ‘ No/ Jesus said gently, ‘ we cannot do that. 
We must find something for all of them to eat/ 

“ The disciples could not see any way of feed¬ 
ing the people, but at that moment a boy came 
walking along the path. He had a basket in his 


123 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


hands, and he was carrying his basket very care¬ 
fully, for it held five barley loaves and two small 
fishes. We are not told in the Bible what he 
meant to do with them. Perhaps he thought he 
could sell them — perhaps they were his own 
simple supper. By and by he saw the crowds of 
people on the slope of the hill, standing in rows, 
one above the other and looking like great groups 
of flowers, in their red and blue and green gar¬ 
ments. He went straight up to Andrew, who 
was standing nearest, and thrust the precious 
basket into the fisherman's hands.” 

“ Why did the boy do that? ” questioned Dick. 

“ Maybe the people looked hungry,” suggested 
Betty. “ It was fine of him, anyway, wasn’t it, 
Uncle Jim? ” 

“ Yes,” agreed Uncle Jim. “ I think that when 
the little boy saw the hungry people and heard 
Christ’s disciples say that there was no way in 
which they could be fed, he must have wanted to 
help, though what he could give was so little. He 
must have been proud and happy, too, when 
Andrew took the basket. But the fisherman 


124 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


smiled and shook his head when he looked inside, 
and saw the little loaves and small fishes. How¬ 
ever, the loving eyes of the Master looked on the 
child with a promise in them. 

“ ‘ What has the child got? 1 asked Jesus. 

“ They showed him the basket, and said that 
what was in it was not enough for so many people. 
And the little boy stood by, perhaps feeling very 
sorry that he had not more. But the Master 
held up his hand. 

“ ‘ Tell the people to sit down/ he said; ‘ and 
give the basket to me! ’ 

“ So the people sat on the hillside, and Jesus 
stood up, took the basket, and, lifting his face 
towards the sky, he thanked God for the food, 
and blessed it; and then he began to give out 
the bread and fish from the basket. He went on, 
and on, and on; but the food did not come to an 
end. The disciples kept taking it to the people, 
and coming back for more, and the little boy 
watched in amazement and joy. At last every¬ 
body had had enough, and still the Lord held the 
basket in his hands. 


125 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


“‘Now/ he said, ‘gather up the pieces that 
the people have let fall, so that nothing may be 
wasted/ 

“ And, when all the fragments had been picked 
up, there were twelve baskets full of broken food. 

“ Then Jesus must have turned with the sweet¬ 
est smile, and have given the little boy his own 
small basket back again. And the child, as he 
went home, in the sunset light, must have been 
filled with wonder at the things he had seen. 

“ That, children, is one of the most wonderful 
miracles that Jesus ever performed, even though 
he did raise up people from the dead. When you 
think of it, to feed a great multitude from a few 
loaves and fishes and then have twelve basket¬ 
fuls left over, the miracle is really overpowering,” 
said Uncle Jim in conclusion. 

“ And had it not been for the little boy, the 
multitude would have had to go hungry,” added 
Dick thoughtfully. 

“ Perhaps not. Jesus would have found a 
way,” declared Uncle Jim. 

Betty asked if the boy was ever heard of after 
126 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


that. Uncle Jim answered that no mention was 
made of him in the Bible after that, but he had no 
doubt that the little fellow had grown up to love 
God and do his works. 

“Did all the people believe in Jesus after 
that? ” asked Dick. 

“ Not all of them. Many did, of course. 
People then, just as is the case to-day, are diffi¬ 
cult to convince, and perhaps the people of those 
days were even more suspicious and skeptical 
than now. I don’t know.” 

“ How thoughtful of Jesus to wish to provide 
food for them,” murmured Betty. 

“ Jesus was always thoughtful, always mindful 
of the comfort and happiness of others, and in 
that alone is a great lesson for us. It is a guide 
that we all should follow, and never let one day 
pass that we do not make some one happy with a 
kind act or a friendly smile, and word of cheer. 
There is another reason for our doing it — because 
it will make the day happier for us, for each of 
us. I presume you children have heard enough 
for one day,” added Uncle Jim smilingly. 


127 


THE MAGIC BASKET 


They assured him that they had not. 

“ Then I will tell you a little story. After that 
Betty is going to help her mother get supper, and 
you and I are going to the post office, Dick.” 

“ Don't be long,” said Mrs. Burroughs. “ I 
shall be starting supper about the time you finish 
the next story. What is it to be about, James? ” 
“ The title is, ‘ Jesus Has a Visitor, the Story 
of Two Converts/ ” said Uncle Jim. 


128 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


THE STORY OF TWO CONVERTS 

6 C rpHIS is the story of a proud man, and of a 
-L woman who found God without knowing 
it. It will show you yet another side of Jesus, 
and of his goodness and greatness,” Uncle Jim 
informed his hearers. 

“ Does he perform more miracles? ” asked Dick. 

“Not this time, Son. You children have not 
forgotten the things that Jesus did in the temple, 
which, as you will recall, caused the people to 
talk about him. Some declared that he was one 
who practiced the black art, while others believed 
that he was the Messiah. 

“Much of the opposition to Jesus came from 
the rulers of the Jews and the proud priests and 
Pharisees. These priests were men of great in¬ 
fluence, and they were very jealous of that 
influence, so you see why they did not wish the 
129 

0 — Uncle Jim 'a Stories from New Testament. 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


Son of God to deprive them of any of it. They 
had heard about Jesus, and they were not only 
angry with him, but they despised him because 
he was poor, and they looked down upon him 
also because he came from Galilee.” 

“ Did they know that he was God’s Son? ” 
asked Betty. 

“ That I do not know. They denied that he was, 
and declared that he was not even a prophet, 
Betty. They were rich, and he was poor and 
lowly. There was one among the rulers, however, 
who was honest, and who was a thinking man. 
His name was Nicodemus. Nicodemus pondered 
over all that he had heard about Jesus — thought 
of his anger in the temple, of his driving out the 
merchants and money-changers, and of the mir- 
.acles that Jesus had performed. 

“ ‘ This man/ said Nicodemus to himself, ‘ at 
least must be a great teacher.’ Now Nicodemus 
was not only a ruler, but he was himself 
also a great teacher, and he recognized in Jesus 
another great teacher, and for that reason espe¬ 
cially he wished to go to see Jesus. 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


“Nicodemus knew, however, that were he to 
go to see the carpenter from Nazareth, and the 
rulers and priests were to learn of it, their anger 
would be great. He was afraid of what they 
might think and say, but he determined to go 
just the same.” 

“ He must have been a pretty good sort,” ven¬ 
tured Dick. 

Uncle Jim nodded and went on with his story. 

“ So Nicodemus waited until darkness had 
settled over the land, then he went out into the 
silent street and hurried along until he reached 
the house where Jesus was staying. You can 
imagine that he paused at the door, a little un¬ 
certain what he ought to do. When finally he 
entered and asked to see Jesus, and when the 
ruler saw the wonderful face of the Saviour, and 
saw the hand extended in warm, friendly greeting, 
the dreams of Nicodemus became realities. 

“ 1 Master! ’ he cried. * We know that you are 
a teacher come from God, for none could do the 
wonderful things that you do unless God was 
;with him/ 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 

"Jesus looked searchingly into the heart of 
his caller, and saw that the ruler had come 
humbly and with a yearning to be taught. The 
Saviour led him to a seat, and told him plainly 
that unless Nicodemus and everyone else became 
quite changed, they never could go to heaven. 

“ Nicodemus was amazed at this, and answered 
that he had supposed that, if he did good deeds 
and kept the law of Moses, he was certain of go¬ 
ing to heaven. 

"Jesus explained to him that to make one’s 
heart clean, one needed the Spirit of God within 
him. He then told Nicodemus of God’s great 
love; and how he gave his only Son so that all 
who believe in him should live with him forever 
in heaven. 

"Nicodemus listened eagerly to the words of 
Jesus, but though he could not understand it 
all, even with his own great learning, he believed 
that Jesus was the Son of God and loved him 
from that time on.” 

"What did the priests and rulers think of 
that? ” asked Dick. 


132 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


"They were angry, but neither their power 
nor their words could change Nicodemus. Yet 
the priests and the rulers and many of the people 
so hated Jesus and so objected to his preaching 
and his good works that the Saviour finally left 
with his disciples and journeyed into the land of 
Judea. He there preached to the country people 
in the same places where John the Baptist had 
taught and baptized. 

"Many people came to see him there, and 
hearing him, they believed and loved him, and 
the disciples of Jesus baptized all those who 
wished to lead a new life.” 

“ Didn’t the rulers bother him there? ” asked 
Betty. 

"Yes, Blue Eyes. That is, when they heard 
what he was doing in Judea, they were very 
angry and tried by every means in their power 
to prevent people from following Jesus. 

"When Jesus discovered this he decided to 
leave Judea and return to Galilee, where his old 
home was, but before doing so he wished to go 
through another country called Samaria. 


133 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


“ Now, I must explain to you that the people 
who lived in Samaria were called Samaritans, 
and the people who lived in Judea were called 
Jews; and the Jews and the Samaritans hated 
each other. 

“One day, Jesus and his disciples had been 
walking a long way, and they were very tired. 
They had left Judea behind them, and had comp 
near to a city of Samaria, when they reached a 
shady spot where there was a deep well of clear, 
cold water. It was the middle of the day, and 
very hot, and Jesus was too tired to go any fur¬ 
ther. So he sat down by the well to rest while 
his disciples went into the town to buy food. 

“ Presently, while he was sitting there alone, a 
woman of Samaria came, carrying a large pitcher 
on her head to fetch water. Jesus was thirsty; 
and when the woman had drawn up her pitcher 
out of the well full of cool, delicious water, Jesus 
said to her: 

“ ‘ Let me drink some/ 

“ The woman indignantly refused to give him 
so much as a sip of the water.” 


134 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


“ What an awful thing to do — refuse the Lord 
a drink of water! ” cried Betty. 

“ You forget, the woman did not know Jesus, 
my dear. This woman was a Samaritan, and, as.. 
I have told you, she hated all things Jewish. 

“ ‘ You are a Jew/ she said. * Why do you ask' 
me to give you water? You know the Jews and 
the Samaritans have nothing to do with each 
other.’ ” 

“ I must say, the people weren’t any too polite 
in those days, Father,” reminded Dick. 

“ Did Jesus punish her? ” asked Betty. 

“ Jesus was not angry with the woman for re¬ 
fusing to give him a drink of water, but he said 
to her so gently: 

“ ‘ If you knew who I am, you would have 
asked me to give you living water; and I would 
have given it to you.’ 

“The woman wondered what Jesus meant. 

“‘Sir, the well is very deep, and you have 
nothing to draw water with; so where could you 
get that living water from?’ demanded the 
Samaritan woman. 


135 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


“ Jesus said, * If any one drinks of this water 
he shall thirst again; but if any one shall drink 
of the water that I shall give him, he shall never 
thirst/ ” 

“ What did Jesus mean? ” questioned Betty. 

“ He meant the Holy Spirit which he will give 
to all who ask him. Those who have the love of 
God in their hearts are happy, and joyful, and 
hopeful; for they know that God is their friend, 
and that when this life is over, everlasting life 
will begin with him in heaven,” explained Uncle 
Jim. 

“But the woman did not understand this; and 
yet she seemed to feel as if the stranger had some 
blessing to give. So she asked for it. 

“‘Sir/ she said, ‘give me this living water, 
that I may never be thirsty again/ 

“Without knowing it, she was really asking 
Jesus for the Holy Spirit. And Jesus gave it to 
her, as he said he would. But first he began to 
teach her; for she was very ignorant and very 
sinful. She did not know rightly about God, nor 
how to pray to Him. 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


“ So, first of all, he began to teach her about 
herself. He showed her that she was a sinner, 
and that he knew all about it. Then he told her 
about God. 

“ He told her that God is a Spirit. Though we 
cannot see him, yet he can see us, for he is every¬ 
where, and is always near us. He is so forgiving 
and so kind that he wants all poor sinners to come 
to him, that they may be forgiven, and learn to do 
better. But then they must really want him to 
forgive them, and not only say the words; for 
God can see into all hearts, and he only answers 
the prayers of those who mean what they say . 

“ The woman listened attentively to Jesus, but 
she did not quite understand even yet. However, 
she began to wish to do better, and she said to 
Jesus: 

“ * I know that the Messiah is coming one day; 
when he comes he will teach us/ 

“ ‘ I am he; I who am speaking to you now! ’ 
answered Jesus. 

“ Children, can you not see the emotions on 
the face of the Samaritan woman when Jesus 


137 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


made that tremendous announcement? Perhaps 
she trembled, possibly with fear, but more likely 
with a growing realization that she was in the 
presence of God, for, in her heart, she knew that 
this man was the Messiah.” 

“ Yes, it must have been a wonderful moment 
for the Samaritan, if she was able to fully under¬ 
stand what Jesus told her,” said Dick. 

“ She did understand, as you will see in a mo¬ 
ment,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ You will remember that Jesus’ disciples had 
gone away into the town to buy food. They 
were now returning, and when they saw Jesus 
talking to a woman they were amazed — amazed 
that he, a Jew, should speak with a Samaritan. 
They dared not, however, chide him for this. 

“ The woman took advantage of their arrival 
and hurried away to the town as fast as she 
could run, that she might tell the people there 
the joyful news that the Saviour of the world 
had come. In her haste she forgot her pitcher, 
and when she reached the town she began to shout 
out the glad tidings. 


138 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 


“ ‘ Come ! 9 she cried. ‘ Come and see the man 
who has told me everything that I ever did. He 
must be the Messiah/ 

“ The people of the town were greatly excited, 
and the Samaritans came running out to the well 
in great numbers. They found Jesus sitting by 
the well, and when they were gathered about him, 
gazing in wonder on that marvelous face, Jesus 
began to teach them. 

“ As they listened to him they forgot that he 
was a Jew; and, as they heard his gracious words, 
they longed to have him always with them, and 
they begged him to stay. 

“ So Jesus remained two days in the city. 

“ As he preached, a great many people believed 
in him. Some believed because of what the wo¬ 
man had told them when she said, ‘ He has told 
me all things that I have ever done/ 

“ And many more believed in him because of 
what they heard him say; and they said to the 
woman: 

“‘Now we believe, not because of what you 
told us, for we have heard him ourselves, and we 


139 


JESUS HAS A VISITOR 

know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour 
of the world/ ” 

“ Uncle Jim, how did Jesus know all about the 
Samaritan woman if he had never seen her be¬ 
fore? ” wondered Betty. 

“Because he was Jesus who knew all things. 
He knows all things, your thoughts as well as 
all that you do. Remember this, Blue Eyes, when 
you are inclined to do or say wrong things,” re¬ 
minded Uncle Jim. 

“ When I am cross with anyone and wish some¬ 
thing would happen to him? ” questioned Betty. 

“ Yes.” 

“ Then I guess I had better be pretty careful,” 
reflected Betty, so seriously that Uncle Jim 
laughed heartily. 

At that moment Mrs. Burroughs called them in 
to supper, and it was not until they had finished 
eating that Uncle Jim mentioned the story that 
he proposed to tell them next day, and he prom¬ 
ised to tell them about “The Nobleman’s Son, 
the Story of Jesus’ Works.” 


140 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 

THE STORY OF JESUS’ WORKS 


66 T SHALL now tell you of a beautiful inci- 

-L dent in the life of the Saviour, and of the 
bitterness that was his when he once more visited 
his home in Nazareth,” said Uncle Jim when they 
had assembled for their story next morning. 

Rain was falling, so Betty and Dick could not 
go outdoors. They were not at all disappointed, 
and, as Betty confided to Cousin Dick, Uncle 
Jim would have to tell stories for them all day 
long. 

“ Have you children thought over what I told 
you yesterday? ” he asked. 

“Yes,” they cried, and upon Uncle Jim’s re¬ 
quest, Dick and Betty spoke of what had most 
appealed to them in the previous day’s stories. 
When they had finished, Uncle Jim complimented 
them warmly, and his eyes sparkled and twinkled- 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


for he saw that his stories of Jesus had taken 
root on rich soil. 

“ Jesus must have left the home of the Samar¬ 
itans with regret,” began the story-teller. “ The 
Samaritans were sad and accompanied him for 
some distance on the start of his journey to Gal¬ 
ilee; then they turned back, and slowly and 
thoughtfully retraced their steps homeward. 

“ After a tiresome journey, Jesus and his dis¬ 
ciples finally arrived at Cana, where, as you no 
doubt remember, he performed a miracle at the 
wedding feast by changing water into wine.” 

“ Yes, we remember,” nodded Betty. “ Did he 
do more miracles when he got there this last 
time? ” 

“ One very great one that I shall tell you about. 
The news of Jesus’ coming had traveled fast and 
spread over the country for miles and miles. 
Many of the people had been to Jerusalem to 
attend the Passover at the time Jesus was there, 
and with their own eyes had witnessed what he 
did. He was, therefore, almost the sole topic of 
their conversation, now that he was returning 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


to Nazareth. When he arrived at Cana, he was 
met by great throngs, and by the sick and the 
lame. 

“In the city of Capernaum, about twenty 
miles away, there lived a nobleman who was in 
sore distress. His only son was ill and near to 
death. The doctors had given him up, and it is 
probable that they had not done him any good 
at any stage of his illness, for the doctors of those 
early days were not like our doctors of to-day. 

“ Well, the nobleman’s son was growing worse 
and worse, and the distressed father did not know 
what to do until he heard that Jesus had returned 
to Judea. 

“ This was good news for the sorrowing father, 
for he had been told that Jesus was a wonderful 
healer, that he had cured many sick people and 
performed many miracles. 

“ ‘ If I ask him, perhaps he will make my son 
well again,’ said the nobleman. 4 1 will go to 
him, and at once.’ ” 

“The nobleman had faith, hadn’t he?” said 
Dick. 


143 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


Uncle Jim nodded. 

“ It was not until the morning that the father 
started away, and at that time the sick boy was 
sinking rapidly. He made the journey with as 
much speed as possible, and, reaching Cana 
where Jesus was, he went straightway to the 
Saviour and poured out his trouble. He begged 
Jesus to go home with him to Capernaum and 
heal the boy, saying the lad was then at the point 
of death. 

“ Jesus, to try the man to see if he really be¬ 
lieved in our Saviour’s power to heal, said: 

“‘ You will not believe in me unless you see 
me do miracles.’ 

“ ‘ Sir, come quickly or my child will die/ an¬ 
swered the nobleman, thus showing to Jesus that 
he did believe. He urged the Saviour to start 
for Capernaum with him immediately, but Jesus 
had no intention of doing so.” 

“ Why not? ” wondered Betty. “ That was 
not like our dear Saviour.” 

“ Don’t get ahead of my story, Blue Eyes,” 
irebuked Uncle Jim. “ Jesus did not go because 
144 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


there was no reason that he should. Can’t you 
guess why? ” 

Betty shook her head. 

“ I think I know/’ spoke up Dick. “ Jesus did 
not go because he could cure the boy from far 
away as easily as if he were in Capernaum.” 

“ Right you are, Son,” approved Dick’s father. 
“ Then again, he was putting the nobleman to a 
still further test — testing his faith to see if the 
man would take his simple word. 

“ ‘ Go back home. Your son is getting well/ 
said Jesus.” 

“ Did the nobleman believe him? ” questioned 
Betty eagerly. 

“ He did, for as soon as Jesus had spoken those 
few words of hope the nobleman started back to 
Capernaum, his heart overflowing with happiness 
and expectation. Children, was not that a beauti¬ 
ful faith? ” 

“ Wonderful! ” murmured Betty. “ Then what 
happened? ” 

Uncle Jim smiled. Betty’s curiosity always did 
make him smile. 

i45 

to — Uncle Jim's Stories from New Testament. 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


“ Jesus, after telling the nobleman that the son 
was going to live, turned away and entered the 
house where he was staying. 

“ The nobleman quickened his pace as he drew 
near his own home, but his faith did not lessen. 
He believed, and when but a short distance 
away he saw his servants running towards him. 

“ ‘ Your son is getting well/ they cried when 
still some distance from him. 

“ ‘ What time was it when he began to get 
better? * questioned the father eagerly. 

“ ‘ The fever left him at midday yesterday/ 
was the reply. 

“ The devoted father offered up a prayer of 
thankfulness and blessed God, for it was exactly 
at midday of the previous day when Jesus said to 
him, ‘ Your son is getting well.’ ” 

“How the nobleman must have loved Jesus 
after that/’ ventured Dick. 

“He did/’ agreed Uncle Jim, “and he and 
every member of his family from that moment 
on believed that Jesus was the Son of God. 

“ From Cana Jesus then journeyed on to Naz- 
146 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


areth, which, as you will recall, was his boyhood 
home. He had not been home for a long, long 
time, and since he had been absent he had done 
many wonderful things. 

“ You remember that he was a carpenter’s son, 
and was himself a carpenter; and no doubt he 
had often done work for the townspeople. Every¬ 
body knew him quite well in the little town, and 
now that they had heard so much of what he had 
done in other places, they were very eager to see 
him again. 

“ It was the Sabbath day when he arrived, and 
Jesus, as he was always accustomed to do, went 
into the synagogue, a building like our churches, 
where people met to pray to and to worship God. 

“ There Jesus sat, in the house of prayer, 
where often and often he had been, from the time 
he was a little boy. Then he was silent, and used 
only to listen; now he was going to read and 
preach. 

“ The synagogue was full, and every eye was 
upon him as he stood up to read. Then the book 
of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. Jesus 
147 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 

took the book and found the place where it is 
written: 

“ ‘ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because 
he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the 
poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, 
to preach deliverance to the captives and recov¬ 
ery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them 
that are captive, to preach the acceptable year of 
the Lord.’ 

“ When he had read this, he closed the book, 
and gave it again to the minister, and sat down; 
for Jesus always preached sitting down. 

“ Every eye was fixed on the Saviour when he 
began to speak and tell the people that he was 
the one on whom the Spirit of God had fallen. 
He told them that he was the promised Messiah. 

"At first Jesus’ hearers were fascinated with 
him. There was a power and grace in the Sav¬ 
iour’s words and manner that filled the people 
with wonder and admiration. As he went on, 
however, they began to whisper among them¬ 
selves, and their whispers rose to a murmur. 
Their anger began to rise, too.” 

148 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


“Why? How could they? What were they 
angry about? ” demanded Betty in amazement. 

“ You shall see. 

“ 1 Is this not the carpenter, the son of Joseph 
and Mary?’ they demanded. 1 Why, we have 
known him all his life. How dare he try to make 
us, his neighbors, believe that he is the Messiah? ’ 
were among the thoughts that passed through the 
minds of the people. That was what Jesus' 
hearers could not get over, and perhaps we might 
have felt the same way about one of our own 
neighbor’s sons in similar circumstances.” 

“ Didn’t Jesus know what was in their minds 
at that moment?” asked Dick. 

“ Of course he did,” replied Uncle Jim. “ He 
knew that they were wanting him to perform 
some great miracle, and that they were jealous 
because he had done these things in other places. 
Jesus told them of what they were thinking, and 
declared that it was no more than he had expected 
from them. He took the opportunity to warn 
them against hardness of heart, and warned them 
that God could take away blessings from them 


149 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


and give those blessings to others who would show 
themselves more worthy.” 

“ I’ll warrant they were good and angry at 
that,” spoke up Betty. 

“ They were, Blue Eyes. Their passions 
flamed. They were mad with anger and hate. 
Though it was the Sabbath day, and though they 
were in God’s temple, they rose from their seats 
in fury. 

“ ‘ Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, 
Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have 
heard done in Capernaum, do also here in this 
country. But verily I say unto you, no prophet 
is accepted in his own country,’ called Jesus. 

“ How well he knew, did he not, children? ” 

“ What did they do to Jesus, Father? ” ques¬ 
tioned Dick eagerly. 

“ In their mad fury, they seized hold of Jesus 
and dragged him from the synagogue and out of 
the city — ” 

“ Oh! ” cried Betty. “How terrible! ” 

“ Were there no real men in that crowd? ” de¬ 
manded Dick indignantly. 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


“Perhaps, but they were influenced by the 
others,” replied Uncle Jim. “As I have said, 
they dragged him from the synagogue and the 
city, and took him to the top of the steep hill on 
which the city stood, intending to kill him by 
throwing him down the hill headlong.” 

Betty tried to speak, but the words would not 
come. Her face was pale, for she was deeply 
affected by Uncle Jim’s recital. 

“ Do — do you really believe they — they 
would have killed him? ” stammered Dick. 

“ Yes. But his time had not yet come to die. 
They did not know what they were doing, chil¬ 
dren, nor the power that was Jesus’, and, as it 
happened, when they least expected it, Jesus 
worked a marvelous miracle. In that instant he 
suddenly disappeared from their sight, walking 
unseen among them as he turned his back on his 
boyhood home, probably forever, for the Bible 
does not record his ever having visited Nazareth 
again.” 

“ How sad Jesus must have been,” said Betty 
feelingly. 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


“Very sad, and full of grief,” agreed Uncle 
Jim. “ It perhaps was the most cruel experience 
that he had ever had. The hardest part of it was 
that the Samaritans believed in him and received 
him, but his own neighbors not only did not be¬ 
lieve in him, but tried to take his life. How true 
Jesus’ words were when he said, ‘ No prophet 
is accepted in his own country.’ That is the end 
of the story, children,” announced Uncle Jim. 

“Why didn’t God punish the people of Naz¬ 
areth for their cruelty? ” asked Dick. 

“We do not know. Perhaps it was God’s will 
that Jesus should pass through this trying ex¬ 
perience, for you know he faced many sad experi¬ 
ences during the short time that he was preaching 
and teaching the people,” answered Uncle Jim. 

Dick said that he did not yet understand why 
the people wished to kill the Saviour. 

“ Jealousy was at the bottom of it,” Uncle Jim 
replied. “ Then again they were angered be¬ 
cause Jesus criticized them, which was something 
that those proud people could not endure.” 

“But when he disappeared before their eyes, 


152 


THE NOBLEMAN’S SON 


didn’t they know that Jesus was all he said he 
was? ” wondered Dick. 

“ I think not. When people are in a rage they 
seldom reason,” said Dick’s father. 

“ That’s so,” nodded Dick. “ I guess it doesn’t 
pay to lose one’s temper, and I think I shall try 
never to do so myself again,” he added, looking 
at Betty, who flushed under his steady gaze. 
Betty occasionally lost her temper, and she knew 
what that look in Dick’s eyes meant. It meant 
that she ought to apply that lesson to herself. 

“ I think I should like to hear another story,” 
said the little girl. “ I want to know what Jesus 
did after he disappeared. I hope it was some¬ 
thing that won’t make me feel so sad and crying- 
like.” 

“ Let me see,” answered Uncle Jim, rising and 
looking out of the window. “ I think it is going 
to rain all day, so I might as well resign myself 
to talking until the rain either stops or, if it 
doesn’t, until bedtime,” he sighed. “ I will now 
tell you a story which we shall call, ‘ The Fish in 
the Net, the Story of the Beautiful Lake.’ ” 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


THE STORY OF THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE 

6 6 T LIKE fishing,” announced Dick after his 

JL father had named the story that he was to 
tell next. “ Father and I often go fishing and — ” 

“ I don't. I think it cruel to catch the poor 
things,” differed Betty. 

“ Well,” observed Dick, “ I don't know 
whether catching them is any worse than eating 
them.” 

“ Betty, I reckon Son Dick has the best of the 
argument,” chuckled Uncle Jim. 

“ Well, isn't it cruel? ” persisted the little 
yellow-haired girl. 

“ That is a question that everyone must decide 
for himself. God put certain foods on earth for 
man, and man takes them without sinning, so 
far as we know. You must draw your own con¬ 
clusions.” 


J54 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


“Suppose we have the story now, Father,” 
suggested Dick. 

Uncle Jim said he was ready. 

“ Yes. I want to hear more about Jesus, and 
what he did after he disappeared from the sight 
of his neighbors,” urged Betty. 

“After Jesus had been driven away from Naz¬ 
areth by the savage fury of the people, he went 
down to the Lake of Gennesaret, and there it 
was that he decided to live and work until the 
time came for him to make the great sacrifice. 
You can well imagine that the thought of that 
sacrifice was in his mind much of the time.” 

“ What sacrifice do you mean? ” asked Betty. 

“ Giving his life to save the world,” answered 
Uncle Jim with deep feeling. “ The valley of 
Gennesaret was a beautiful place. Lovely 
flowers covered the ground; rich fruits grew all 
about, and the air was full of the fragrance of 
flowers. Birds sang in the foliage of the trees all 
day long.” 

“What a heavenly place,” cried Betty with 
eager eyes. 


155 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


“ Words cannot picture its real loveliness,” an¬ 
swered Uncle Jim. “ Then, too, the lake added 
to the beauty of the valley.” 

Dick said he did not blame Jesus for making 
his home in such a beautiful spot. 

“Son, it was not because of its beauty that 
Jesus chose to live in the valley, but because thou¬ 
sands of people lived there, and because all around 
the lake were great numbers of towns and villages, 
each one being thickly inhabited. This made a 
great field for Jesus to work in, and it was that he 
might the better preach the gospel to them that 
he chose to remain there.” 

“ I don’t think I know what you mean by the 
word ‘ gospel/ ” interrupted Dick. “ I have read 
it and heard it a good many times, though.” 

“ Son, the word means ‘ good news.’ Was it not 
good news that Jesus had to tell them — that he 
had come as the Saviour of the world to seek and 
to save sinners if they would but believe in him 
and trust him?” 

Dick and Betty nodded, and Dick thanked his 
father for explaining the word to him. 

156 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


“ You remember I told you of some fishermen 
who had become disciples of Jesus, — John, and 
Andrew, and Simon? Their home was in this lake 
country. They had been with the Lord at 
Jerusalem, Samaria and Cana, and had seen the 
wonderful things he had done. 

“ But now they were home again, and Jesus 
was not with them. 

“We are not told when they got separated from 
their Master; perhaps it was when he escaped 
from the angry Nazarenes. 

“ They must have felt very sad, at not having 
the Lord with them; and perhaps they were be¬ 
ginning to fear that he could not be the Messiah, 
after all. And now, too, they heard bad news, 
which grieved them. John the Baptist, who had 
baptized them, and who had pointed out to them 
Jesus as the Lamb of God who had come to take 
away the sins of the world, — John the Baptist 
had been put in prison by the wicked King Herod. 
How sad it all was! So different from what they 
had hoped and expected! 

“ One day Peter and Andrew were on the sea- 


157 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


shore, casting a net into the water, to catch 
fish. A little farther on, Janies and John were 
sitting in a ship with their father mending their 
nets, which had been torn and broken by the 
sharp edges of the rocks. They were all very 
busy, when, lo! Jesus came that way! He 
stopped, and called them. 

“ ‘ Leave the fishes, and come with me; and I 
will teach you how to catch men/ he said.” 

“What did Jesus mean by telling them that 
he would teach them to catch men? ” wondered 
Dick. 

“ He meant that he would teach them to do his 
work, and save the souls of men,” explained Uncle 
Jim. “ His work was to seek to save sinners, and 
to preach the gospel to the poor. 

“ The instant they heard Jesus’ voice — the 
voice they knew and loved so well — the fisher¬ 
men’s hearts leaped with joy, and they obeyed 
Jesus’ command without delay, and joined the 
Saviour. They accompanied him on his travels, 
as he went from place to place, teaching, and la¬ 
boring in God’s great cause. 

158 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


“ After a time, however, James and John left 
the Saviour and went back to their fishing. One 
time they had been out all night without catching 
a single fish, and when they returned to shore they 
found Jesus, who had been preaching to a great 
multitude. The people were crowding Jesus, 
pressing close to him in order to hear him better, 
so he got into a boat belonging to Peter and 
pushed out a little way into the water, and talked 
to the people from there. 

“ After finishing his sermon, Jesus, knowing 
that the fishermen had had no luck, told Peter 
to push his boat out into deep water. Peter was 
doubtful, but he obeyed the Saviour’s command. 

“ In a moment such a multitude of fish came 
into the net that it was actually breaking. Then 
they beckoned to James and John to bring their 
boat quickly and help them. And they came, and 
filled both ships so full that they were almost 
sinking. Never, in all their lives, had the fisher¬ 
men taken such an enormous number of fish at 
one time. 

“When Peter saw the miracle that had just 


159 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


been done, he felt how great Jesus was, and how 
unworthy he himself was to have such a Master. 

“Not Peter only, but James, and John, and 
Andrew also, began to understand that if they 
were, indeed, to become fishers of men, they must 
give up everything for Christ. 

“ And so they did. They brought their ships to 
land, and then they left all, and followed their 
Master. 

“ And here we will end our story,” announced 
Uncle Jim in conclusion. 

“ What did the fishermen do with the fish that 
Jesus caused to go into their nets? ” Dick wanted 
to know. 

“ I presume they emptied the nets, and liber¬ 
ated at least part of the haul,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ Did the disciples remain with the Saviour this 
time? ” inquired Betty. 

; Uncle Jim said they did. 

“ Tell us something more about the people of 
that beautiful valley,” urged Dick. 

“ So far as we know they were kind to Jesus, 
and vast numbers of them believed in him and 
160 








































































THE FISH IN THE NET 


praised him, but there were many others who did 
not, and it was these that Jesus was seeking to 
convert.” 

“ When the people saw what a great lot of fish 
Jesus made go into the net, weren't they sur¬ 
prised, too?” asked Betty, who was eager to 
keep Uncle Jim talking. 

“ Yes, indeed.” 

“ Then why didn't all of them believe in him? ” 
she demanded. 

Uncle Jim said that, like to-day, people were 
hard to convince, and further that many didn’t 
want to be convinced. Human nature then, he 
said, was about the same as it is in the present 
age. 

“ Shall I go on, Margaret? ” he asked, turning 
to Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ It is very wet out of doors, James,” answered 
Mrs. Burroughs, nodding towards the window, 
against which gusts of wind were carrying the 
driving raindrops. 

“ Then just one more, and then a rest for the 
remainder of the day. This is another part of 
161 

ii — Uncle Jim’s Stories f rom New Testament. 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


the same story and it has to do with Capernaum, 
which, as you know, was one of the many towns 
on the shores of the beautiful Lake of Gennes- 
.aret, where Jesus lived for a long time,” said 
Uncle Jim, when Betty interrupted. 

“I have been wanting to know where Jesus , 
home was. Was that it? ” she asked. 

“ The Saviour had no real home, and never had 
after leaving the house of his parents in Nazareth, 
but now, it is believed, he was living in Peter’s 
home. Though he made his home in Capernaum, 
he made long journeys from there, visiting other 
towns around the lake, traveling into the hill 
country and pretty well covering all of Galilee, 
teaching, preaching and healing. 

“ What I am going to tell you about now is how 
he spent his first Sabbath in Capernaum, which 
will show you how much greater was his care for 
others than for himself. At Capernaum Jesus first 
went into the synagogue and taught, as he always 
did wherever he was. The people wondered as 
he talked, for no other man had ever taught them 
as he did. 


162 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


“ It was while he was speaking in the synagogue 
that day that a great cry was heard without, and 
Jesus went out to see what the cause of the dis¬ 
turbance might be. The people followed him, 
and what they saw was a man, his face all twisted 
and purple, possessed of an evil spirit. He hated 
and feared Jesus and he hated the Saviour’s 
words. 

“ ‘ Let us alone! What have we to do with 
you, Jesus of Nazareth? ’ shouted the man in a 
shrill voice. 1 Are you come to destroy us? I 
know who you are, the holy one of God.’ ” 

“ Wasn’t that terrible? ” gasped Betty. 

“ What did Jesus do? Didn’t he punish the 
crazy man? ” questioned Dick. 

“ No. Jesus was grieved,” said Uncle Jim. 
“ The sight of sin and suffering always made him 
sad, but he knew instantly what ailed the man. 

“ ‘ Be silent, and come out of him! ’ com¬ 
manded Jesus sternly, speaking to the evil spirit 
within the madman. 

“ The man threw himself on the ground, where 
he lay screaming.” 


163 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


“ What a terrible sight! ” cried Betty. 

“ It was only for a moment, Blue Eyes. Almost 
instantly the evil spirit left his body, the lines of 
his face smoothed out, and the man rose with a 
new light in his eyes, and a gentleness in his voice 
that no one supposed he possessed. The people 
were amazed. 

“ ‘ What thing is this? ' they wondered. ‘He 
has power even over the evil spirits, and they 
obey him ! 9 

“ Peter's wife's mother was very ill with fever, 
so Jesus went directly to her home, after driving 
out the evil spirit. Going to her bedside, he re¬ 
buked the evil spirit that was within her, took her 
by the hand and lifted her up. As he did so the 
fever left her. She was instantly as well and 
strong as ever, and at once went about getting 
the meal for the family and their guest. Those 
two miracles, children, proved the divine power 
of Jesus, and you will see what followed. 

“All the people at Capernaum had by now 
heard of the miracle he had performed at the 
synagogue that morning, by healing the poor 
164 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


demoniac; and so everyone who was ill, or dis¬ 
eased, or possessed by an evil spirit, wished to 
go to the healer to be made well. 

“ But the Jews were very strict about keeping 
the Sabbath holy, and they even thought it wrong 
for sick people to go and be cured on that day. 
So they were obliged to wait until evening, for 
the Jewish Sabbath is over as soon as the sun sets. 

“ At last the sun went down. And after that, 
as quickly as possible, the streets were filled with 
sick people all going to the humble house of Peter 
the fisherman, where Jesus was. 

“ The Bible says that * all the city was gathered 
together at the door/ There were the lame and 
the blind; those who had bad fevers and different 
diseases, and many who were possessed by devils. 
There were many who were too ill to walk — 
almost dying — carried by their friends on beds, 
to Jesus. 

“ And he healed them all. The diseases of all 
were driven away, either by the touch of his 
gentle hands, or by the sound of his voice. 

“ This work of healing not only caused fatigue 

165 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


and weariness to the Saviour, but also caused 
him great pain. His heart ached with the sight of 
so much misery. His love and compassion were 
so great, that it was as if he himself had to bear 
it all. 

“ At last all of the sufferers had gone home, 
eured, happy and singing Jesus’ praises. Then, 
wearied from his work, the Saviour sought rest 
in his bed at Peter’s house. In the morning, be¬ 
fore the break of day, he was up. He left the 
house and walked briskly from the city, and on 
until he reached the great solitude of the hills, 
and there he rested and communed with God for 
many hours,” said Uncle Jim, finishing his story. 
“This ends the story-telling for today. Chil¬ 
dren, I am worn out, aren’t you? ” 

“ We are not,” replied Betty spiritedly. “ After 
what you have told us about the hard work Jesus 
did, I don’t think you ought to feel worn out just 
from telling us about it.” 

Uncle Jim sat up and squared his shoulders, 
gave Mrs. Burroughs a quick glance, and turned 
to Betty. 


THE FISH IN THE NET 


“ Little Blue Eyes, you have taught your Uncle 
Jim a lesson this time. You are right. I have 
no right to feel tired when there is work to be 
done, and for your reminder I’ll tell you another 
story,” he promised. 

Betty gave her yellow curls a vigorous shake. 

“ No, Uncle Jim. Jesus showed his compassion 
for the sick and the lame and the weary, and we 
are going to show compassion for you, for you are 
tired, you dear old Uncle,” she said, running to 
him and giving him a kiss. 

Uncle Jim Burroughs bowed to her decision. 

“ Another time I will tell you a story that I 
have in mind, a really wonderful story that will 
interest you very much,” he said. 

Betty showed instant interest, and almost for¬ 
got her resolution. 

“ What is it, Uncle? ” she asked eagerly. 

“ The title is, ‘ The Little Girl Who Came 
Back/ ” said Uncle Jim. 


THE LITTLE GIRL WHO 
CAME BACK 

THE STORY OF JAIRUS’ DAUGHTER 


< S W /"ELL, what do you think of our daugh- 
▼ ▼ ter as a Sunday-school teacher? ” ques¬ 
tioned Mrs. Burroughs as Uncle Jim and Dick 
entered the house next day. They had been to 
the village church for the Sunday services, and 
had remained for Sunday-school to hear Betty 
Burroughs teach the little ones. Betty had not 
yet returned home. 

“She is wonderful,” answered Uncle Jim, his 
face now wreathed in smiles. “ Margaret, the 
way that child told her little pupils the story of 
Christ’s sufferings and his sweet goodness, actu¬ 
ally made my eyes dim. The child is going to be 
a wonder.” 

“ It is wholly due to you, James.” 

Uncle Jim shook his head. 


168 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


“You can’t put brains into a human being,” 
he made reply, “ but when the brains are there 
you can develop them.” 

“ I don’t believe I should like to teach such a 
young class,” said Dick. “The little girls and 
boys wriggle about in their seats until they make 
me nervous.” 

“ So far as my observation goes, they did very 
little wriggling when Betty was telling them the 
story,” replied Uncle Jim. “ Here she comes.” 

Betty bustled in, shaking her yellow curls from 
her face, her eyes sparkling and snapping merrily. 

“ Well, what do you think of it, dear old Uncle 
Jim? ” she cried. 

“ You are more wonderful than ever, Blue Eyes. 
One day you will be almost as good a story teller 
as your Uncle Jim.” 

The laughter suddenly faded from the eyes of 
Betty Burroughs. 

“ If I were, I should be the happiest girl in the 
world,” she breathed, regarding Uncle Jim dream¬ 
ily. “ If I only could.” 

“Then be the happiest girl in the world, my 
169 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


dear, for you already have your Uncle Jim beaten 
a mile, as Dick would say. You are one day go¬ 
ing to be a great teacher. Now sit down and rest, 
and after our dinner we will have another story,” 
promised Uncle Jim. 

“ Yes. I want to hear about 4 The Little Girl 
Who Came Back/ Coming, Mother,” she cried 
in answer to her mother’s call. “ Wait until I 
get my things off and my apron on, and I’ll set 
the table.” 

It was a happy meal, and after the dishes were 
finally cleared away all hands went to the living 
room, and Betty snuggled down at Uncle Jim’s 
feet, eager to listen to the story which Uncle Jim 
was about to relate, which the little girl felt cer¬ 
tain was going to be a most wonderful one. Nor 
was she disappointed. 

“ Capernaum, where Jesus was still living at the 
time our story begins, had a great many Romans 
and Greeks in it,” began Uncle Jim. “ There was 
a Roman fort in Capernaum, with odd little 
towers set on the top of it. The Jews, of whom 
there were not very many, were quite generally 
170 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


poor, so poor that the Romans had built their 
synagogue for them, and they all lived in har¬ 
mony, so different from many other parts of the 
world that I have told you about. 

“There were, however, a few Jews at Caper¬ 
naum who were rich, and among them was one 
who loved his little daughter more than money or 
anything else in the world, and it is about her 
that I am going to tell you children this after¬ 
noon.” 

“ Yes,” breathed Betty eagerly. 

“ He was called Jairus.” 

“What an odd name, Father,” interrupted 
Dick. 

“ It is a Greek name, Son. The father liked 
it better than his own Hebrew name, Jair. Jairus 
was a fine character. He loved everything that 
was wise, and everything that was beautiful, and 
he tried to bring up his sweet little daughter to 
love these things, too. 

“ The country in which they lived is still, in 
spring-time, covered with the fairest wild flowers 
in the world. All over the plains near her home 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


the little girl could see anemones in red and blue 
and purple, pink ‘ ragged robins/ and big daisies 
in white and gold. The black and white storks 
would stand solemnly about among the flowers; 
and the kingfishers would flash across a little 
stream that flowed into the shining sea. Here, 
too, would be hoopoes — ” 

“ Uncle Jim! What in the world are they? 
What is a hoopoe? ” interrupted Betty. 

“Yes. I was wondering the same thing,” 
added Dick. 

“ A hoopoe,” explained Uncle Jim, “ is an old- 
world bird, having a long, pointed, curved bill, 
with a beautiful crested head and a golden-buff 
neck. But they are so untidy in their little holes 
in the trees. Then there were pretty partridges 
calling to their downy chicks among the rocks; 
and every now and then, a wonderful rare fishing 
eagle, hanging with beating wings over the north¬ 
ern end of the lake, would fall like a stone into 
the water, sending up a shower of sparkling spray 
in its mighty dive after the fish brought down by 
the River Jordan.” 


172 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


“ Oh, Uncle Jim! You make it all so beauti¬ 
ful,” cried Betty. 

“ It is beautiful of itself, my dear,” answered 
Uncle Jim, and then went on with his story: 

“ The town of Capernaum, itself, stood where 
four great roads met — roads down which travel¬ 
ing parties of people were always coming and 
going. There was a big pool, like what we call 
a reservoir, just where these four roads met; and 
here the merchants bought and sold all kinds of 
things — ivory, and silk, and beautiful ornaments 
from a city called Damascus. There was another 
narrower road there, too, which led down to the 
beach of the Sea of Galilee, and passed through 
a fishing-village called Bethsaida, which was built 
on the shore itself, while Capernaum stood higher 
on the hill. It was at Bethsaida that the young 
fisherman John lived, with his father Zebedee, and 
his brother James. Andrew and Simon Peter 
had their homes there, too, and so had Philip, 
another disciple. 

“Now Jairus’ daughter, as she walked about 
with her father and mother, often had seen Jesus. 


173 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 

She must have met him in the lanes and have seen 
him, seated in Simon Peter's fishing-boat, teach¬ 
ing the people who thronged to the water's edge 
to hear him. In the cool evenings she and her 
father would come across the Master walking 
quietly among the flowers, wearing his long coat 
of lambs’ wool, with its white fringes at the cor¬ 
ners, and its hem of blue all round. By this coat 
everybody knew him for a Jew. For, at this time, 
the people of Samaria were quite distinct from 
the Jewish Israelites. Jairus would wear the same 
sort of coat himself; and, also, two tiny leather 
ornaments bound, one with a strap to his fore¬ 
head, and the other to the back of his right hand. 
They were called ‘ phylacteries,' and they held 
.two small rolls of parchment, on which were writ¬ 
ten the laws that the Hebrews had to obey. Jairus 
often wore his, for he was an important person 
and a ruler of the synagogue. But perhaps Jesus 
did not wear the little leather ornaments, for he 
lived the life of a simple carpenter, among the 
poor people of Bethsaida. 

“ Jairus’ daughter must have heard her father 


174 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


and mother talk a great deal about Christ. You 
know that, although in Jerusalem Herod lived a 
wicked life, yet in other places in Palestine there 
were a number of Israelites who believed that 
Jehovah was going to show himself once again 
to the Hebrews — not in the thunder of a moun¬ 
tain, or the soft breezes of a dusky star-lit garden, 
or even in the Holy of Holies in the big temple, 
from which the Ark of the Promise had been lost. 
They believed that, this time, a wonderful and 
gracious man would come forth to lead them. 
And they were beginning to feel sure that this 
man was with them now, moving among the 
flowers of Galilee, in the person of the great 
teacher from Nazareth, who was called Jesus, the 
Christ. 

“The little girl would hear about the ford called 
the Upper Bethabara, where the oleanders grow, 
and where John had baptized Christ. And she 
would hear the people say that a dove had floated 
down with widespread wings from the sky, and 
hung for a moment above the brows of Jesus be¬ 
fore it flew away. And perhaps she would go her- 


175 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


self to some ford of the river, and see her parents 
submit to this strange ceremony performed by the 
baptizer from the high hills — a priest of a new 
order of holiness. The story of the Angel Gabriel 
appearing to Zacharias in the temple, and of the 
angels on the plains of Bethlehem, must have 
been told in her hearing; while her father would 
read aloud the prophecies from his library of 
books, and quote the old poet’s beautiful words: 

“‘ The branch of the Lord shall be beautiful 
and glorious.’ 

“ ‘ A man shall be as a hiding-place from the 
wind and as a refuge from the tempest.’ 

“ ‘ The Day-spring from on high hath visited 
us.’ 

“ ‘ Thy dead men shall live; together with my 
dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye 
that dwell in dust! For thy dew is as the dew of 
herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.’ 

“ ‘ His name shall be called Wonderful, Coun¬ 
sellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 
the Prince of Peace.’ 

“ It was for a man such as this that the faithful 
176 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


Israelites waited so patiently, and of whom 
Jairus’ little girl would hear so much. She must 
often have gone to bed with these words ringing 
in her ears — ‘Wonderful, Counsellor, the Prince 
of Peace.’ On Sabbath days she would help 
her mother make her father ready for the syna¬ 
gogue, which was, as you know, the place where 
the Jews held their Sabbath services, and where 
she herself was taught on week days. Jairus 
always put on a special scarf for this service. But 
the little girl would most likely wear a simple 
frock like the Greek and Roman children with 
whom she played. 

“ She would go to the synagogue, and there she 
would sing the very psalms that people sing to¬ 
day ! How much they would mean to her! When 
the sweet words rang out: ‘ In Salem also is his 
tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion! ’ she 
would think of the temple of Jerusalem, not many 
miles away, to which her father and mother jour¬ 
neyed on high feast-days. And, at the synagogue, 
she would see Jesus, with John, and James, and 
Zebedee; and laborers and harvesters from the 
177 

12 — Uncle Jim's Stories from New Testament. 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


country round. The synagogue was very crowded 
in those days. Everybody pressed to see and 
hear this new prophet, who made deaf people to 
hear, and blind people to see, and even raised dead 
people to life again. 

“ The synagogue was a beautiful white build¬ 
ing, with a long flight of marble steps. It must 
have looked very lovely among the houses 
around, which were built of dark stone. Jairus , 
daughter may have heard Christ preach his first 
sermon in Galilee there, which was not like any 
sermon that had ever been preached in the syna¬ 
gogue before. 

“ All these things the daughter of Jairus prob¬ 
ably saw and heard. More and more eagerly she 
would begin to question her father, and to watch 
in the lanes, and on the sandy shore, for the pass¬ 
ings of the Lord Jesus. And she learned to love 
him, in her childish way, very deeply indeed. 
She loved his tender eyes, his sweet smile, and 
his beautiful, strong, kind voice. She was sorry 
when he went away to teach in other villages, 
and always so glad when he came back again. 

178 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


u Then, one hot day, when Jesus was some miles 
away, in a country that belonged to people who 
were called the Gadarenes, the little daughter of 
Jairus fell sick. She lay, tossing and moaning, 
on her small bed, and her father and mother were 
in deep grief about her. Day after day she grew 
worse, and at last there seemed to be no hope — 
everybody thought she would die. Jairus prayed, 
with all his heart, for the return of Jesus, because 
he felt sure that only the Master could save her.” 

“ What a beautiful faith! ” murmured Betty, 
to which Uncle Jim nodded his approval, and then 
went on with his fascinating story. 

“ The little girl was at her very worst when her 
father went out one day, and saw, coming across 
the lake, the sail of the ship that was bringing 
back the Master to the shore under the city of 
Capernaum. 

“ Everybody flocked to meet him as he stepped 
on to the pebbly beach. But Jairus was first of 
all. When he saw Jesus he fell at his feet, and 
begged him to come to his home and save his little 
daughter. 


i79 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


“ The Master set off up the road, with a great 
crowd of people following. As they reached the 
house a sobbing servant came out and said to 
Jairus: 

“ ‘ Thy daughter is dead! Trouble not the 
Master/ 

“ Jairus gave a low cry, but Jesus turned to him 
and spoke with grave tenderness. 

“ ‘ Fear not! ’ he said. 1 Only believe, and she 
shall be made well again/ 

“ Then he entered the house, and went up into 
the room where the little, dead child was laid. 
People were sobbing about her; but the Master 
held up his hand and bade them hush. 

“ ‘ Weep not/ he said, ‘ weep not ! She is not 
dead, but sleepeth/ 

“ But nobody believed him, for they felt sure 
she was dead. They could not understand, you 
see, that the Master knew her spirit was still 
alive, and that he had the power to call it back 
again to the world that it had left. 

“ Then the Master sent all away, all but the 
child’s father and mother, and Peter, and James 
180 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


and John. While these five stood a little way 
off, he went up, quite alone, to the bedside, and 
took the little girl's cold, still hand. 

“ ‘ Little girl! ’ he said, in a sweet low voice > 
bending over her with such a kind loving face, 
‘ Little girl! Arise!* 

“ A thrill ran through the quiet small body, 
the innocent eyes opened, and the spirit of Jairus* 
daughter came back. She sat up, and looked, with 
all her old childish love, into the face of Jesus. 

“ He put his arm round her, and told her father 
and mother to come and kiss her again on her 
warm, living, little mouth. He said they were to 
give her something to eat, that she would soon 
be quite well. Then he went quietly from the 
house, telling them that they need not talk to 
anybody about the wonderful thing he had done. 

“ But Jairus’ daughter would often wake in the 
night to think of him, and whisper to herself the 
words — ‘ His name shall be called Wonderful/ ” 

Betty’s eyes were swimming when Uncle Jim 
reached the end of his story. 

“Oh, Uncle Jim! How beautiful. It is the 
181 


THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK 


most beautiful story you ever told,” declared the 
little yellow-haired girl in an unsteady voice. 

“ Did not all the people believe in Jesus after 
that wonderful miracle, Father?” asked Dick, 
after a moment’s thought over what Uncle Jim 
had told them. 

“Not all, Son,” answered Uncle Jim a little 
sadly. “ But Jairus’ daughter believed and loved, 
and her parents knew that she had been raised 
from the dead by Jesus, the Son of God. The 
faith of Jairus had saved the sweet daughter, and 
that is all, dear children, for now.” 

Betty did not speak, but, going up to Uncle 
Jim, she pressed her lips to his forehead, then 
walked slowly to her room where she sat and 
thought for a long, long time. 

“ Next time, Son, I shall tell you and Betty 
about ‘ The Sermon on the Mount, the Story of 
a Beautiful Picture/ ” said Uncle Jim. 


182 


THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 

THE STORY OF A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE 


i 6 "O Y the way,” said Uncle Jim when he sat 
JL> down to tell another story on the follow¬ 
ing day, “ can either of you children tell me the 
names of Jesus' disciples? ” 

Betty Burroughs named six of the twelve dis¬ 
ciples, but could remember none of the others. 

“ How about you, Dick? ” questioned Uncle 
Jim. 

“Yes, I know,” was Dick’s prompt reply. 
“ They were Peter, Andrew, James and John, 
Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, 
James, the son of Alphaeus; Judas, the brother of 
James; Simon Zelotes, and Judas Iscariot.” 

“ Very good,” approved Uncle Jim and Mrs. 
Burroughs in chorus. 

Betty looked rather uncomfortable. Then sud¬ 
denly she brightened. 

183 


THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 


“ I know some things that you can’t recite, 
Dick Burroughs,” she announced. 

“What are they?” asked Dick patronizingly. 

“ I’ll not tell you now. Maybe later on I will 
show you. Uncle Jim, I am ready to hear all 
about the Sermon on the Mount. You told it to 
us last year, but I want to hear it again.” 

“ News of the great things that Jesus had done 
in Capernaum spread quickly over all that coun¬ 
try,” began Uncle Jim. “ Everyone was talking 
of the wonderful things that the prophet had ac¬ 
complished, meaning Jesus himself, and people 
flocked in from all the towns and villages from 
miles and miles around to hear and see the man 
who did such miracles and preached such unusual 
sermons. They began following him about wher¬ 
ever he went, and so rapidly did their numbers 
increase that there was not room for all to see 
and hear.” 

“Why didn’t Jesus go into a house and get 
away from them? ” inquired Betty. 

“ Ah, Blue Eyes! That is just what the Sav¬ 
iour did not wish to do. He wished the people, 
184 


THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 


all the people, to see and hear him, so he led them 
far up on a beautiful mountain, where the birds 
were singing, and the scent of the blooming moun¬ 
tain flowers filled all the air about. There he 
found room in a great open space where all might 
hear his words, and there were thousands of them. 

“ Jesus sat down with all his disciples near him, 
and the great throng of people pressed as close 
to him as they could get, that they might not 
miss a word of what he had to say. And then in 
those beautiful surroundings the Saviour began 
to preach. Think what a scene that was, 
children.” 

“ It is a picture, Uncle Jim — a beautiful pic¬ 
ture,cried Betty with enthusiasm. 

“What Jesus taught up there in the fastness 
of the mountain that day was different from what 
the Scribes and Pharisees had been accustomed 
to teach. In this sermon were the Beatitudes. I 
wonder if either of you children can repeat them. 
I know that you have heard them in Sunday- 
school. If you do know them, either of you, I will 
let you tell that part of the story.” 

i85 


THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 

“Let Dick tell them. He knows,” suggested 
Betty. 

“I — I am afraid I don’t,” admitted Dick, his 
face getting a little redder than usual. 

“Perhaps Betty can,” suggested Mrs. Bur¬ 
roughs. 

“ No. If I can’t she certainly cannot,” declared 
Dick. 

“ Of course I don’t know nearly so much as 
Dick does about things, but I can try,” answered 
Betty, rather to the amazement even of her 
mother. 

“Good!” nodded Uncle Jim. “That is the 
way to do. Nothing can possibly be accomplished 
in this world without trying.” 

Betty got to her feet and began, hesitatingly at 
first, but gaining confidence as she proceeded. 

“ Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is 
the kingdom of heaven,” she said. “ Blessed are 
they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. 
Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the 
earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled. 

186 


THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 


Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain 
mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart; for they 
shall see God. Blessed are they which are perse¬ 
cuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the peace¬ 
makers; for they shall be called the children of 
God. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you 
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of 
evil against you falsely for my sake. 

“ Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is 
your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they 
the prophets which were before you/’ added Uncle 
Jim, upon seeing that Betty could go no further. 
“ Blue Eyes, that was splendid of you. 

“ Why, Betty, how ever did you happen to 
know the Beatitudes? ” wondered Mrs. Burroughs 
with smiling face. 

“ I learned them so that I could tell them to 
the little children at Sunday-school,” answered 
Betty, stealing a triumphant glance at Dick. 

“ Son, that is the time that little Blue Eyes got 
the better of you.” 

Dick Burroughs’ face was very red this time. 

187 


THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 


“ Before Jesus finished he taught the people 
many more things, among them the Lord’s 
Prayer, which that great multitude repeated after 
him in a great volume of sound that echoed from 
rock to rock for great distances in the mountain 
fastness,” resumed Uncle Jim. 

“What a wonderful scene that must have 
been,” murmured Mrs. Burroughs, deeply im¬ 
pressed. 

“ Greater than the world has ever seen since 
that hour,” answered Uncle Jim. 

“ Jesus finished his sermon by saying, £ Every¬ 
one who has heard me, and will do as I have said, 
I will tell you what he is like. He is like a very 
wise man who built his house upon a rock: and 
the rain came pouring down, and a flood of water 
came rushing along, and a very strong wind blew: 
but the house did not fall: for it was firm on 
the rock. 

“‘But everyone who has heard me, and will 
not do as I have said, is like a foolish man, 
who built his house upon the sand: and the rain 
poured down, and the floods came, and a strong 
188 


THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 


wind blew; and the house fell: and it was a very 
terrible fall/ 

" Jesus Christ is the rock. All who trust in him 
are safe forever; for he is the Saviour of all those 
who believe. Those who do not care for him, 
and will not believe in him or trust him, must per¬ 
ish. For the Bible tells us that the wicked shall 
be cast into hell, and all the people who forget 
God,” continued Uncle Jim. 

“ The people didn’t try to throw the Saviour 
from the mountain that time, did they, Uncle? ” 
questioned Betty eagerly. 

“ No, my dear. They were too deeply im¬ 
pressed. Of course there were persons there who 
would have rejoiced to see Jesus harmed, but in 
the face of that great multitude, who, they 
knew, would rend them limb from limb, the un¬ 
believers dared make no move at all. This, 
dear children, is the story of the greatest church 
meeting that the world has ever known, or per¬ 
haps ever will know. In our next story I will tell 
you the story of ‘ The Magic Pool, the Story of 
Great Miracles.’ ” 


THE MAGIC POOL 

THE STORY OF GREAT MIRACLES 


6 4 T THINK I shall have to tell the story of 
JL ‘ The Sermon on the Mount’ to the little 
ones next Sunday,” announced Betty when they 
were once more seated for another story. 

“And could I paint, I think I should paint a 
picture for them, giving the scene in the moun¬ 
tains with Jesus teaching the people,” added Dick. 

“ What did Jesus do after that big meeting? ” 
questioned Betty. 

“ He preached and he healed,” replied Uncle 
Jim. “With his disciples he traveled far and 
near, spreading the Gospel, for he knew that his 
days on earth were numbered. His greatest heal¬ 
ings were performed in the period of which I 
shall tell you to-day.” 

“Oh, Uncle Jim! I just love miracles,” ex¬ 
claimed Betty enthusiastically. 

190 


THE MAGIC POOL 

Dick’s quick nod indicated that he, too, liked 
them. 

“ Once again there was a feast of the Jews at 
Jerusalem, and Jesus was now on his way there. 
He had not been to Jerusalem since the time he 
turned out of the temple all those who were dis¬ 
honoring God by buying and selling there, for 
which act he had earned the enmity of the rulers 
and many others,” began Uncle Jim. 

“ There was in those days a mysterious pool 
near the sheep-gate of Jerusalem. It was known 
as the Pool of Bethesda. The water in this mys¬ 
terious pool was generally quiet and motionless, 
but every now and then there was a strange move¬ 
ment in it — ” 

“ Was it fish that made the movement, Uncle? ” 
questioned Betty. 

“ No, Blue Eyes; it was not fish,” replied Uncle 
Jim smilingly. “ At such times the pool would 
gurgle and bubble without apparent cause, and 
whenever this occurred the water was said to pos¬ 
sess wonderful healing power. At a certain time 
at intervals an angel was supposed to visit the 


THE MAGIC POOL 


pool and stir the water. It was the belief of the 
people that the first person who dipped in the 
pool after the stirring, was healed of his disease, 
whatever it might be.” 

“How strange!” murmured Betty. “I 
wouldn’t dare go into it.” 

“ I would,” spoke up Dick. 

“ Great throngs of sick people visited the pool 
at such times, just the same, all eager to bathe 
in its healing waters,” resumed Uncle Jim. “ It 
was the Sabbath day when Jesus was passing the 
pool. The golden sunlight was flooding the earth 
and birds were singing sweet melodies in the trees, 
while crowding and pushing on all sides were 
great numbers of people. Jesus saw lying near 
the water a poor man who had been a cripple for 
many years, and the Saviour looked upon him 
with that great pity that he always felt for those 
in trouble. 

“'Would you like to be made well?’ asked 
Jesus in his kindly voice. 

“ ‘ Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool 
when the water is troubled. While I am trying to 


192 


THE MAGIC POOL 

get down some one else steps down before me/ an¬ 
swered the cripple, whose illness had been caused 
by a sin that he had committed thirty-eight years 
before that.” 

“ Did Jesus know that? ” asked Dick. 

“Yes, Son; Jesus knew — he knew all things. 
But instead of assisting the man into the pool the 
Saviour gazed thoughtfully at him. 

“ 4 Rise, take up your bed and walk/ com¬ 
manded Jesus in a tone of voice that thrilled all 
who heard it. It thrilled the poor cripple as noth- 
ing in all his life had thrilled him, and wonder 
began to grow on his face as he felt his strength 
returning.” 

“ Yes, yes,” urged Betty eagerly, as Uncle Jim 
paused to think. “ What did the cripple do? ” 

“ He obeyed the command of the Saviour, my 
dear. The man took up his bed and started away. 
You can well imagine how happy he was. He was 
wholly cured, but some of the rulers met him and 
were angry. 

“ ‘ It is the Sabbath day. You have no right to 
carry your bed/ a ruler reminded the man. 
i93 

13 — Uncle Jim's Stories from New Testament. 


THE MAGIC POOL 


“ ‘ He that healed me told me to take up my bed 
and walk/ answered the man. When they asked 
him who it was that had healed him, the man said 
he did not know, for he did not know Jesus, as he 
had never seen the Saviour before. But Jesus, 
who had heard the rebuke, answered for him. 

“ ‘ My Father worketh hitherto, and I work/ 
he said. 

“ The Jews were enraged, for Jesus had called 
God his Father, and told them that he could do 
nothing of himself. He reminded the people that, 
if they believed their prophet Moses, they would 
believe in him, for Moses had written of him.” 

“ What did the people do then? ” interjected 
Dick. 

“ They did nothing for the reason that Jesus 
went on and left them. Later in the day the Sav¬ 
iour saw the man in the temple — the man he 
had made well, and warned him that, if he sinned 
again, a worse thing would happen to him. The 
healed man now recognized Jesus and went out 
from the temple crying out that it was Jesus who 
had made him well. 


194 


THE MAGIC POOL 


“ Hearing this the rage of the priests and many 
of the people increased, and they determined to 
kill the Saviour.” 

“ Oh! ” exclaimed Betty. “ How terrible! ” 

“ Jesus spoke plainly to them, for he feared 
them not at all, and then left them, but his life 
was no longer safe in Jerusalem. He therefore 
determined to return to Galilee for another year, 
and to continue preaching, teaching and healing 
wherever he went. It must have been a sad 
leave-taking for Jesus, for he knew that when he 
again returned to Jerusalem it would be to die 
there.” 

“ That was tough,” muttered Dick. “ Do you 
think he really did know, Father? ” 

“ Certainly,” replied Uncle Jim a little sternly. 
“ Jesus returned to Capernaum, but it grieved 
him to the heart that even in the cities around the 
beautiful lake of Gennesaret, where most of his 
mighty works had been done, great numbers of 
the people were unbelieving and unrepentant.” 

“Even though they had seen him do things 
that only God could do, they still would not be- 


195 


THE MAGIC POOL 


lieve in him,” reflected Dick. “ It does not seem 
possible.” 

“ A proud Pharisee of Capernaum invited Jesus 
to dine with him, soon after the Saviour’s return 
there. He had heard of the wonderful things 
that Jesus had done and wished to see him and 
hear him talk. There were many others invited 
to that dinner, and, as the guests came in, Simon 
— for that was the Pharisee’s name — welcomed 
them cordially, and the servants washed their 
feet and put oil on their heads.” 

“Washed their feet?” cried Betty in amaze¬ 
ment. 

“ How queer. Why did they do that? ” added 
Dick. 

“ Because it was the custom in that country. 
The servants also put oil on the guests’ heads.” 

“ Did they do all this to Jesus? ” questioned 
Dick. 

“ No. They did not. Neither did Simon kiss 
him, as he had done to the others. He considered 
that it was quite honor enough to ask Jesus to his 
house, so he showed the Saviour none of the kind- 
196 


THE MAGIC POOL 

nesses that the other guests had received at his 
hands.” 

“ Didn’t the Saviour resent that insult? ” de¬ 
manded Dick heatedly. 

“ No. He received the affront in the same sweet 
spirit that he always showed. When all the 
guests were assembled in the house the feast 
began. But the people did not sit on chairs as 
we do. They lay about on couches arranged 
about the table.” 

“ How odd! ” exclaimed Betty. 

“ Presently a woman who had led a very sin¬ 
ful life entered the room. Though she was known 
throughout the city as a wicked person, she was 
now sorry for her sins and wished to be forgiven 
and to live a better life,” said Uncle Jim. 

“ She knew that Jesus had gone to dine in the 
Pharisee’s house, so she followed him there. Per¬ 
haps she had heard his loving words, * Come 
unto Me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest.’ She felt her sins to be 
a heavy burden, and she believed that he could 
give her the rest he had promised. 


197 


THE MAGIC POOL 


“ And now she came up behind him weeping, 
and her tears fell fast on the Saviour’s feet. With 
her long hair she wiped his feet, and put some 
sweet ointment on them, which she had brought 
with her in a box. 

“ The Pharisee saw it all, and was displeased. 
He would never have allowed such a sinner to 
touch him , and he wondered that Jesus permitted 
it; but then he thought perhaps Jesus did not 
know who she was. 

“He said to himself, 'If this man were a 
prophet, he would have known about this wo¬ 
man’s life.’ 

“Jesus knew how deeply she sorrowed for 
all she had done and how firmly resolved she was 
to lead for the future a blameless life. Jesus not 
only knew about the woman, but he also knew 
exactly what the Pharisee was thinking about, 
so he said to him: 

“ ‘ Simon, I have something to say to you/ 

“ The Pharisee replied, ' Master, say on/ 

“ Jesus said, ‘ There were two men who owed 
another man money. One of them only owed 
198 


THE MAGIC POOL 

him a small sum, but the other owed him a very 
great deal of money. However, neither of them 
could pay anything at all, and so the man freely 
forgave them both. Now, which of these two men 
would love him most? ’ 

“ Simon answered, ‘ I suppose he to whom he 
forgave the most/ 

“ ‘ You have rightly judged/ replied the 
Saviour. 

“ Then Jesus turned to the penitent woman, 
and said to Simon, ‘ Do you see this woman? I 
came into your house, and you gave me no water 
for my feet; but she has washed my feet with 
tears, and wiped them with her hair. You put no 
oil upon my head; but this woman has anointed 
my feet with ointment, and her sins are forgiven. 
That is because she loves so much; but those 
who have only been forgiven a little, the same 
love little/ 

“Was that not a scathing rebuke to Simon, 
children? ” asked Uncle Jim. 

“Yes, Simon must have felt pretty small,” 
agreed Dick. 


*99 


THE MAGIC POOL 


“‘Your sins are forgiven/ said Jesus, turning 
to the woman. 

“ ‘ Who is this man that forgives sins? ’ won¬ 
dered the guests of the feast. 

“‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace/ 
were Jesus’ final words to the woman as she left 
the room weeping happy tears.” 

“ What a beautiful story,” cried Betty, as Uncle 
Jim waved his hand to indicate that the story was 
finished. 

“ I should like to know what Simon said after 
Jesus rebuked him,” inquired Dick. 

The Bible does not say,” answered Uncle Jim. 
X( We can easily imagine, however, that the feast 
came to an end very soon after that, and that 
Jesus left the room immediately. He had admin¬ 
istered a great lesson to Simon, and one that, no 
doubt, long remained in the Pharisee’s mind, as 
well as in the minds of the other guests. Remem¬ 
ber the question that Jesus asked of the Pharisee, 
for, if you do, it will have a wonderful influence 
on you through all your life. In other words, 
unless you give much —give everything in the 


200 


THE MAGIC POOL 


cause of the Lord — you can expect little from 
him in return. This is the lesson that I wish you 
two children to remember.” 

“We will, Uncle,” promised Betty earnestly, 
and Dick nodded. 

“ Then I will tell you another story. We will 
call it, ‘ The Voice from the Cloud, the Story of 
Coming Sorrows/ ” announced Uncle Jim. 


201 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


THE STORY OF COMING SORROWS 

HE day was too beautiful to remain in the 



■JL house when another morning had come. 
Uncle Jim suggested that they go out in the woods 
and there talk of Jesus. 

“ Will it be sad, Uncle Jim? ” questioned Betty 
a little apprehensively. 

“ Both sad and joyous,” answered Uncle Jim. 
“ Mother is going with us, and we will stay until 
we are tired. Then we can come home and finish 
whatever of the story remains unfinished.” 

“ That will be beautiful,” murmured Betty. 

So, with Mrs. Burroughs accompanying them, 
they started out immediately after breakfast, with 
Dick and Betty skipping along ahead, picking 
wild flowers, running back to Uncle Jim and ask¬ 
ing questions about them, and applying some of 
their questions to stories that he had told them. 


202 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


The woods for which they were bound were 
but a short distance from home, and into the 
dark green shadows hurried the little group, the 
children eager for what was before them. Birds 
were singing high up in the great pines, and the 
odors of the forest, that are such sweet incense to 
the lover of the woods, lay heavy on the air. 

“ Glorious! ” cried Dick, inhaling a deep 
draught of air. “ I could stay here all the rest of 
my life and be happy.” 

“ So could I,” agreed Betty. “ That is, until the 
snow began to fall and the birds had left for the 
sunny south. I should be lonely, then.” 

“ Never mind, Betty. The sparrows would be 
with you,” chuckled Dick. 

The party seated themselves on a cool bed of 
moss, and Mrs. Burroughs got out her embroidery 
and settled herself for an enjoyable time. 

“ I must bring the little ones out here some 
day and tell them a story,” announced Betty. 
“The trouble is that they would think every 
shadow might be a bear, and I should have a hard 
time keeping them from running back home.” 


203 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


“Chain ’em up/’ suggested Dick. “Father, 
we are ready for the story.” 

“ I have told you how bitterly opposed the rulers 
and priests were to any work, no matter how nec¬ 
essary, being done on the Sabbath, so you chil¬ 
dren can imagine what a burden that day had 
become under the teaching of the Jewish rabbis. 

“God had ordained that one day in seven 
should be kept holy, and he intended it as a rest 
and a blessing to both body and soul. But the 
Pharisees had made a great many hard rules 
about it, which God had never made; and Jesus 
wanted to teach them what it was that his father 
really required. 

“ But the Pharisees did not wish to be taught, 
and nothing made them so angry with Jesus as 
to see that he did not approve of their foolish 
laws. 

“ I will tell you what a few of these laws were: 

“ A tailor must not have a needle about him on 
the Sabbath. 

“ Shoes with nails in them must not be worn on 
the Sabbath. 


204 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


" A flea must not be killed on the Sabbath. 

“No fire must be lit, no food cooked, no sick 
healed, or comforted, on the Sabbath.” 

“Uncle Jim! You don't mean it. How per¬ 
fectly silly! ” cried Betty. 

“ Yes, it was, and Jesus wished to lift some of 
this burden from the poor who were suffering 
under it, for the Pharisees were very hard on 
those who did not know or could not remember 
all the rules,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ When Jesus preached against these rules, the 
Pharisees again plotted to kill him. He returned 
with his disciples to the shores of Gennesaret, 
and there again the Pharisees began to annoy him, 
and to question his right to heal. They did not 
believe in him.” 

“ How strange after all that Jesus had done and 
taught the people. How could they help believ¬ 
ing in him? ” wondered Betty. 

“ About this time, as Jesus was walking with 
his disciples, he began to tell them something that 
made them very sad. He told them that he must 
soon go to Jerusalem and suffer many things — 


205 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


much rudeness and cruelty from the chief priests 
and rulers. Children, on that occasion Jesus told 
his disciples that he must be killed. They could 
not believe it, and Peter so far forgot himself 
that he caught hold of Jesus and began to find 
fault with him, for which the Saviour rebuked 
him severely. 

“‘ Get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling- 
stone to me; for your thoughts are not the 
thoughts of God, but of men/ said the Saviour. 

“ Did he call Peter Satan? ” asked Dick. 

“ Yes.” 

“ Was Peter really Satan? ” begged Betty 
eagerly. 

“ No. Of course not. Jesus called him that 
because he knew that it was the devil that was 
tempting Peter to speak that way to the Master. 

“ The disciples could not understand that the 
only way sinful men could get to heaven was by 
the death of Jesus, — that he must bear in his 
own body on the cross the punishment of all our 
sins. They saw only the sadness of it; they did 
not see the necessity. They did not understand 
206 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


what the rising from the dead meant; and they 
were afraid to ask him. 

“Jesus went on to tell his disciples that trials 
and hardships were not only for him, but for his 
followers, too; and that they must be prepared 
to bear cheerfully contempt, and even death, for 
his sake. He told them, too, that one day he 
would come down from heaven in the glory of his 
Father, with the holy angels; and then he would 
reward all those who were faithful. And he gave 
them this warning: 

“ ‘ Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of 
my words, of him shall I be ashamed when I come 
again in glory/ 

“ Jesus said also: ‘ I tell you of a truth that 
some of you who are standing here shall not die, 
till you have seen the Son of man coming in his 
kingdom/ 

“ He was soon going to show three of the dis¬ 
ciples his glory; and this would better help them 
bear the sorrows that were to follow. 

“Six days,” resumed Uncle Jim, “after that 
unhappy talk, Jesus took Peter, James and John 


207 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


to the top of a high mountain in a great solitude, 
with not a sound to mar the silence. Children, 
can you not feel how impressive that scene must 
have been for the three disciples? The great sol¬ 
itude of the great mountain, and they up there 
alone with Jesus? It is doubtful if they realized 
all this fully, as we do looking at it to-day. They 
were very tired after their hard climb up the 
mountain, so they promptly lay down on the 
ground and went to sleep.” 

“ It doesn’t seem possible,” exclaimed Dick. 

“ I know I shouldn’t have been able to get a 
wink. I should have been too scared to sleep,” 
averred Betty. 

“ Afraid when Jesus was with you, Blue Eyes? ” 
rebuked Uncle Jim, and Betty’s face flushed. 

“ While the disciples were sleeping, Jesus drew 
away from them a short distance, and kneeling 
down began to pray. As he prayed, a wonderful 
change passed over him. His face shone with 
heavenly glory, and his clothes became all glisten¬ 
ing, and shone like burnished gold, then white as 
the light itself. 


208 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


“ As Jesus prayed, two men suddenly appeared 
at his side. Does either of you children know who 
those men were? ” 

Dick and Betty shook their heads. 

“ They were Moses and Elijah,” Uncle Jim in¬ 
formed his hearers. 

“ Yes, Father, but those men had been dead for 
many, many years,” objected Dick. 

“ Dead, as men understand the word,” replied 
Uncle Jim, “but they lived just as you and I 
hope to live in the hereafter. The two men were 
also in brightness and glory, and they talked with 
Jesus. 

“The dazzling light shining all around them 
suddenly awakened the sleeping disciples. As 
they sprang up in wonder they saw Jesus standing 
transfigured before them. He was changed and 
glorified.” 

“Did they see the men with Jesus?” ques¬ 
tioned Dick. 

“Yes, Son. They saw them, and knew who 
the two men were — Moses, that great prophet 
who was called the friend of God; and Elijah, 
209 

14—Uncle Jim's Stories from New Testament. 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


who had been taken up in a chariot and horses 
of fire into heaven. The two men were speaking 
of the suffering and death that Jesus was soon to 
endure in Jerusalem, and Peter, James and John 
heard what they said. 

“The three disciples gazed on this wonderful 
scene in awe and astonishment. Then all at once 
a bright cloud swept down out of the heavens 
and enshrouded them all, and the souls of the 
three disciples were filled with sudden fear.” 

“ Of course they were,” murmured Betty. 

“ Then there sounded a great and wonderful 
voice from the clouds, such a voice as none of the 
three disciples had ever heard. 

“ ‘ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased. Hear him/ said the wonderful voice 
from the cloud. Children, do you know whose 
voice that was? ” asked Uncle Jim in a low grave 
tone. 

“ God’s,” answered Dick and Betty together. 

“Yes. It was the Father’s voice — the voice 
of God himself. When the disciples heard it a 
great fear possessed them, and they threw them- 


210 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 


selves on the ground and hid their faces. Jesus 
laid gentle hands on their shoulders. 

“ ‘ Get up, and do not be afraid/ he said, in the 
gentle voice that they loved so well. 

“ At his touch and his words, the disciples lifted 
up their eyes. They saw no one there but Jesus, 
and the silver cloud had been lifted into heaven. 

“‘ Tell no one what you have seen, till after I 
am risen from the dead/ commanded the Saviour, 
and Peter and James and John kept the faith of 
the Master,” finished Uncle Jim. 

“ Oh, what a wonderful man! ” cried Betty. 
“ And knowing all the time that he was soon to be 
killed, he was unafraid.” 

“He was not afraid, Blue Eyes,” answered 
Uncle Jim, regarding her tenderly. 

“ If I knew that I were going to rise, I don’t be¬ 
lieve I should be afraid to die,” ventured Dick. 

“ No, perhaps not, Son. But if you knew that 
you were going to die as Jesus did, your soul would 
be torn, and your agony of spirit would be more 
than you could bear,” answered Uncle Jim 
gravely. 


211 


THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD 

“ Dick, you would be afraid. It frightens me 
terribly to think of it; and how my heart aches 
for him.” There were tears in Betty’s eyes. 

Seeing her distress, Uncle Jim smiled brightly. 

“ I will tell you a brighter, happier story now,” 
he promised. “ The name of this little story, for 
little it will be, is, ‘The Children who Cried 
Hosanna.’ Let us move farther back, for the sun 
has found us out and is rather warm, children. 
Margaret, it’s a shame to disturb you, for you do 
look so comfortable,” added Uncle Jim 
laughingly. 


21 $ 


THE CHILDREN WHO CRIED 
HOSANNA 

THE STORY OF THE LAST JOURNEY 

6 C \\ 7E will begin at once,” announced Uncle 
t f Jim, after they had settled themselves 
in another spot, close by a rippling stream. 
“ Margaret, you can listen and work, too,” he 
added, as Mrs. Burroughs folded up her em¬ 
broidery. 

“ I prefer to listen, for the title sounds very 
sweet to me. I remember hearing the story when 
I was about Betty's age. My mother told it to 
me,” she added, her voice sinking to a murmur. 

Uncle Jim began promptly. 

“ A few quiet weeks of rest had passed away, 
and now the time had come when Jesus must set 
out on his last journey to Jerusalem. 

“The Saviour had finished his work on the 
shores of Galilee, where the beautiful oleanders 
213 


HOSANNA 


blossomed and shed their fragrance near the 
waters of the lake. He walked toward the city 
of the hills, quietly and steadily, healing sick 
people as he went, on ahead of his disciples. Pres¬ 
ently he called them to him and began to explain 
to them, more fully than he had done before, all 
that he was to suffer. He told them that he would 
be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests 
and scribes, and that they would condemn him to 
death, and mock him, and beat him with whips, 
and at last crucify him. 

“Everybody along the way, who knew that 
the Saviour was passing, flocked to see and hear 
him, and mothers and fathers brought their little 
■children to be blessed. His disciples thought that 
the Master would be disturbed by these little 
children. But Jesus loved the babies, every one 
of them, and their toddling brothers and sisters. 
He took them up in his loving arms, and laid his 
hand on their heads. 

“ ‘ Suffer little children to come unto me and 
forbid them not; for such is the kingdom of God/ 
he said. 


214 


HOSANNA 


“ After a time he neared Jerusalem, and went 
up a long, dusty road to a cool silver-green wood 
on a hill-top. The trees were olive trees and so 
the hill was called Mount Olivet. It was beauti¬ 
ful in the shade there, and on the opposite hill¬ 
top you could see the snow-white marble walls of 
the holy temple shining in the sun. The Master 
looked at Jerusalem with his face full of love and 
longing. Then he said to two of his disciples: 

“ ‘ Go to the village over there. As you enter 
you will find an ass tied up by the road, and a colt 
with her, on which no man has ever ridden. 
Loose them and bring them to me, and if any¬ 
body asks why you do such a thing, say, “ The 
Lord hath need of them.” And straightway he 
will send them to me.’ 

“ The two disciples went down the road, and 
presently came to a little house where two ways; 
met. By the door of the house were tied a gentle 
mother-ass, and a beautiful big young colt. 
The disciples began to untie the mother-ass; but 
the people to whom she belonged came up and 
asked, ‘ What do ye, loosing the colt? ’ 

2iS 


HOSANNA 


“ The disciples looked into the surprised faces, 
and just said quietly, ‘The Lord hath need of 
them/ Then the owners of the ass and the colt 
were only too glad to let their animals be used by 
the loving Master; and the two disciples led the 
mother-ass gently away, while the beautiful 
young colt trotted contentedly behind. They all 
disappeared in the shadows of the olive-trees on 
the hill-top where Jesus was waiting. 

“ Very quickly the news spread that the Master 
was near, and was going into Jerusalem. The 
people soon began to gather. Soon a great crowd 
collected on the slope of the hill, waiting for Jesus 
to pass. And, as they waited, a sweet faint sound 
of singing came to them from the distance. 

“ This was the song: 

“ ‘ Hosanna! Hosanna! 

‘“Blessed is he that cometh in the name of 
the Lord! 

“ ‘ Hosanna! Hosanna! 

“ ‘ Blessed be the Kingdom of our father David, 
that cometh in the name of the Lord! 

“ ‘ Hosanna in the highest! 

216 


HOSANNA 


"* Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!’ 

“The song rose higher and higher, and then 
through the middle of the parted crowd came the 
strong, bright-eyed colt; and on the back of the 
colt rode the Master.” 

“Wasn’t that perfectly wonderful?” cried 
Betty excitedly. 

“Yes. It was all very wonderful and very 
beautiful,” agreed Uncle Jim. 

“ The people were dressed in brightly colored 
clothes, and some held up olive-branches, while 
others waved boughs of gleaming fruit and fra¬ 
grant white or purple flowers. As Jesus drew 
nearer, the men and women threw their cloaks 
upon the dusty road, and made a soft carpet. 
Then they spread olive-branches on the top of the 
carpet, and little children ran forward and 
dropped their offerings of flowers; and all the time 
they sang their song of ‘ Hosanna/ as if in mem¬ 
ory of the angels’ music years ago. 

“ Down this road the Master, seated on a fair 
blue and white garment that was spread on the 
colt’s back instead of a saddle, rode quietly on. 


217 


HOSANNA 


“ All at once there was a momenta hush; and, 
through the hush, another great song floated 
across the valley. The crowd on the side of 
Mount Olivet saw a second crowd coming down 
the hill from Jerusalem, towards the little river 
that was called Kedron, and that ran between the 
city and the Mount of Olives. These people 
were singing ‘ Hosanna ’ too, but instead of 
branches of trees they carried green palm-leaves, 
such as were brought out only for great proces¬ 
sions. Their hymn of welcome to Jesus made 
music in the valley, so that the rush and ripple 
of the brook could not be heard for their song. 

“ Then, all of them, men, women and children, 
went up the steep streets of the hill towards the 
temple, the Master riding in the midst. 

“ He dismounted from the gentle colt, and went 
into the building that was so lovely with its snow- 
white pillars and its gates like shining gold. Then 
the little children grouped themselves all over 
the court where, years before, Simeon had 
blessed the baby Jesus, and they gathered near 
the glittering Gate Beautiful and sang their 
218 


HOSANNA 


brave ‘ Hosannas ’ more earnestly and joyfully 
than ever. 

“ But, once again, there were people who asked 
the Master to hush the children. This time it 
was the Chief Priests and the Scribes, who were 
angry because the children sang of Christ as the 
‘ Son of David/ For this meant that the Master 
was the king. 

“But the Lord Jesus looked at the children 
tenderly, and smiled in answer to their song. 

“‘Nay! ’ he told the priests, ‘Nay! Do you 
not know that long ago the words were written, 
“ Out of the mouths of little children comes the 
most perfect praise ” ? ’ ” 

“ How lovely! ” cried Betty as Uncle Jim fin¬ 
ished his story. “ That is the most beautiful of 
all. How Jesus must have loved the little chil¬ 
dren. I wish it were possible for my darling 
scholars to see him and sing ‘ Hosanna ’ to him.” 

“ Then live so that one day you may see him, 
Betty,” reminded Uncle Jim. “ I am so glad you 
like the story, for what is to follow will not be so 
bright and happy.” 


219 


HOSANNA 


“ Yes. I know,” nodded Betty, her face grow¬ 
ing suddenly solemn. “ I know what is coming, 
but I want to hear it, Uncle Jim.” 

“What did the children and the grown-ups 
mean by ‘ Hosanna ’? ” inquired Dick. 

“ That, Son, is an exclamation of praise to God, 
and comes from a Hebrew word meaning, ‘ save, 
I pray/ ” 

“ Didn’t all that excitement please Jesus? ” 
asked Betty. “ I should think it would have made 
him very happy.” 

“ Perhaps it did make him happy that so many 
believed in him, but you know Jesus’ heart was 
troubled, and he must have been suffering great 
agony of spirit, for he was journeying to Jerusa¬ 
lem for the last time, dear children.” 

Betty wanted to know what became of the 
beautiful young colt with the bright eyes and 
soft skin, but Uncle Jim could tell her nothing 
more about the animal. Then both children 
urged him to tell them another story. 

“No, children. We must go home, for it is 
nearly dinner time,” objected Mrs. Burroughs. 


220 


HOSANNA 


“ One more. Please, Mother dear,” begged 
Betty. 

Mrs. Burroughs shook her head and got up, 
folding her embroidery. Betty knew that there 
was nothing to be gained by urging, so she and 
Dick got up and followed Mrs. Burroughs and 
Uncle Jim. 

“ After dinner,” whispered Uncle Jim, as Betty 
ran up and slipped an arm through his. 

“ Yes. What is to be the name of it? ” whis¬ 
pered Betty back. 

“ 4 Judas Sells His Master/ ” answered Uncle 
Jim. “Ask me no more questions now, for 
Mother is in a hurry. Help her all you can when 
we get home,” he admonished. 

Betty nodded and skipped along ahead, hum¬ 
ming to herself as she skipped. 


221 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


THE STORY OF THE LAST SUPPER 

i C rriHIS is not a story that will make you two 
-L children feel happy,” warned Uncle Jim 
after dinner. 

“Please, Uncle Jim, don't make me cry,” 
begged Betty. 

“ I shall try not to, Blue Eyes, but I can't prom¬ 
ise that, you know. Suppose we go out under the 
trees again. Beautiful nature seems to form a 
setting so much better for stories of the Saviour, 
for nearly all his work and his teaching was done 
out of doors.” 

Dick wished to know why that was so. Uncle 
Jim explained that there were no large meeting 
places, except the temples, in those days, and that 
further, greater numbers could hear the Saviour 
in the open. 

“ Jesus loved nature, and, as you both know, 


222 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


he went into the wildest, loneliest spots he could 
find to worship his Father in heaven. 

“ At the time our story begins, great numbers 
of people had come to Jerusalem for the Passover, 
among them many enemies of Jesus, and when 
these were discussing how they might entrap him, 
Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went 
to the priests and offered to betray Jesus. They 
told him that if he would do that they would give 
him thirty pieces of silver — ” 

“ How much was that? ” asked Dick. 

“A little less than twenty dollars in our 
money,” Dick’s father informed him. “ Jesus at 
once began to teach in the temple, and all the 
time the chief priests and rulers and the scribes 
were seeking to find a way to destroy him. 

“ Then came the day when the Passover feast 
began, and Jesus directed Peter and John to go 
and prepare a supper. When it was evening he 
went to the house selected with his twelve dis¬ 
ciples and sat down. Children, I do not have to 
tell you that it was a sad gathering, for it was to 
be the last meal that Jesus would eat with his 


223 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


disciples. In that hot country, you must remem¬ 
ber, the people wore sandals, not boots and shoes, 
and their feet used to get very dusty and uncom¬ 
fortable after walking. In every house a basin 
and water were provided, that people might have 
their feet washed before sitting down to their 
meals. The water and basin were in the room 
where the Saviour and his disciples were to eat, 
but there were no servants to wash their feet for 
them. 

“ Jesus, to show his own humbleness, took the 
servants’ place. He first tied a towel about his 
waist, then poured water in the basin and began 
to wash his disciples’ feet and wipe them with a 
towel. Not one of the disciples would have done 
this, children,” said Uncle Jim. 

“ Didn’t they feel ashamed of themselves when 
Jesus so humbled himself? ” asked Betty. 

“ Of course they did,” agreed Uncle Jim. 
“ Peter objected, but the Saviour washed his feet 
just the same. After a time Jesus appeared to 
be lost in thought. He seemed in deep trouble. 
He was thinking of Judas, the traitor, to whom 


224 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


he had been so loving and kind; to whom he had 
given power to heal the sick; who had been with 
him so long, and whom he had called his friend; 
and he could not help grieving as he thought of 
his hypocrisy, and of the awful sin he was about 
to commit. 

“ At last Jesus began to speak about it. ‘ Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, that one of you will betray 
me, and will give me up to the chief priests to be 
killed/ he said. 

“ At these words, all the disciples, except Judas, 
were greatly shocked, and they looked at each 
other, wondering of whom he spoke. And one by 
one they began asking Jesus: 

“ ‘ Lord, is it I? ’ But Jesus did not answer. 

“ John was sitting next to Jesus, with his head 
leaning on the Saviour’s bosom. Jesus loved John 
more than all the others. So Peter made a sign 
to John that he should ask their Lord who it was 
that would do this dreadful thing. 

“ Then John, lying on Jesus’ breast, whispered 
to him, ‘ Lord, who is it? ’ 

“And Jesus replied in the same low whisper, 
225 

’ 15 — Uncle Jim’s Stories from New Testament. 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


4 He to whom I shall give a morsel of bread, when 
I have dipped it/ 

“ Then Jesus took a slice of bread, and dipped it 
in a dish of sauce that was on the table, and gave 
it to Judas. John knew now, but no one else 
knew, except, perhaps, Peter. 

“ And after this, Satan entered into Judas, and 
never left him again! It almost seems as if the 
Saviour could no longer bear to have that false 
and faithless apostle in the room, for he said to 
him: 

“ ‘ Do quickly what you are going to do/ ” 

“ How terrible! ” cried Betty. 

“ What a man Jesus was,” said Dick in a low 
tense voice. 

“ The most wonderful in all the world,” agreed 
Uncle Jim. 

“ Judas got up, immediately after he had eaten 
the sop that Jesus had given him, and went out. 
None of the others knew why Jesus had said this 
to him: they thought that perhaps he had told 
Judas to buy something for the feast, or to give 
something to the poor, for Judas kept the bag in 
226 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


which was all the money that belonged to Jesus 
and the other disciples. 

“Judas went to the chief priests and scribes, 
to ask them to send some men with him to take 
his Master. 

“ Before the supper was ended, Jesus took 
bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it 
to the disciples, saying, ‘ This is my body, which 
is given for you; eat this, and think of me/ 
Afterwards he took the cup, and poured out some 
wine, and gave it to them, saying, * This is my 
blood, which is shed for you; drink this, and 
think of me/ 

“ Jesus did not mean that the bread and wine 
were really his body and blood; but he wished to 
teach them, that just as the bread had been 
broken, and the wine poured out, so his body 
would be broken, and his blood poured out for 
them and for all sinful men. 

“After that they sang a hymn; then they all 
went out of the house, through the streets, to¬ 
wards the Mount of Olives. By the time Jesus 
had finished talking with his disciples, they had 


227 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


reached a pleasant, quiet spot, called Gethsemane. 
It was a garden, about half a mile beyond the 
city. Jesus used often to go there with the 
twelve; and wicked Judas also knew the place 
well, and it was to this garden, this very night, 
that he was going to bring the men to take Jesus. 

“And now the Saviour said to his disciples, 
'Sit down here, while I go and pray a little 
farther on/ 

“He took with him Peter, and James, and 
John. 

“ ‘ I am exceedingly sorrowful, even unto 
death/ Jesus said to them; ‘ stay here and watch 
with me; and pray while I am praying/ 

“ And he went a little farther, and fell on his 
face and prayed, saying, ‘ Father, if you are will¬ 
ing, remove this dreadful burden from me; but 
let it be as you will, not as I will/ 

“ When Jesus had prayed, he came back to the 
three disciples, to see if they were thinking of him, 
and were watching with him. But they were 
fast asleep! Then he said to Peter, ‘ What! Are 
you sleeping? Could you not watch with me one 
228 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 

hour? Watch and pray, that you do not fall into 
sin/ 

“ And he went away again the second time, and 
prayed to his Father to help him in his great 
sorrow. Then he came again to his disciples, but 
they were again asleep, for their eyes were heavy. 

“ This time Jesus did not wake them. He left 
them, and went away again; and being in an 
agony he prayed more earnestly. He was so un¬ 
happy that drops of blood came out on his face. 
But he ended his prayer, as he had ended it each 
time before, by saying, ‘ Father, let your will, 
not mine, be done/ ” 

“ Oh, the poor man! ” cried Betty in a voice 
full of sorrow. “Was there no one to comfort 
him, Uncle Jim? ” 

“ Yes. God sent an angel down to comfort 
and strengthen him. His disciples were still 
sleeping when he finally went to them. 

“ ‘ The hour is come, and the Son of Man is be¬ 
trayed into the hands of sinners/ he announced. 
‘Rise up, for Judas, who betrays me, is quite 
near/ 


229 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


“ Judas was then seen approaching, followed by 
a great multitude with swords and sticks and lan¬ 
terns, from the chief priests and Pharisees. They 
did not know Jesus by sight, so Judas said he 
would give them a sign, that the one he would kiss 
would be Jesus. True to his promise, Judas, upon 
entering the garden, ran up to Jesus crying 
4 Rabbi, Rabbi/ and kissed him.” 

“ What did Jesus do? ” questioned Betty 
eagerly. 

“He said, ‘Judas, betrayest thou the Son of 
Man with a kiss? ’ No sooner had the Saviour 
uttered the words than the soldiers closed about 
him, whereupon Jesus’ disciples ran away.” 

“ Brave men! ” cried Dick Burroughs indig¬ 
nantly. 

Uncle Jim nodded. 

“ Jesus,” he said, was first led to Caiaphas, the 
high priest, who questioned and insulted him. 
Many witnesses were called to testify against him, 
but their stories did not agree. After the exam¬ 
ination Caiaphas tore the Saviour’s clothes, and 
it was agreed that Jesus must die.” 


230 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


“ Oh, Uncle Jim! It is so pitiful,” murmured 
Betty, her eyes full of tears. 

“ Next morning they took the Saviour, bound, 
to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to be 
judged. He wished to release Jesus, but the Jews 
refused to permit him to do so. Pilate then sent 
the prisoner to Herod in Galilee. But when Jesus 
was questioned by Herod, he refused to answer, 
whereupon Herod dressed him in a robe of many 
colors, then mocked Jesus and sent him back to 
Pilate. You see neither Pilate nor Herod wished 
to take the responsibility of punishing Jesus. 
Pilate again wished to free Jesus, but the chief 
priests and elders demanded that he be crucified, 
and accused Pilate of no longer being Caesar's 
friend. 

“ Pilate had done all he could to save Jesus. 
Washing his hands he said, ‘ I am innocent of the 
blood of this just person.' He then delivered 
Jesus to them as the Jews demanded. 

“ The people whipped the Saviour, put a crown 
of thorns on his head and a reed for a scepter in 
his hand and mocked him by crying ‘ Hail, King 


231 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


of the Jews.’ Insult after insult was heaped upon 
the Saviour, and he was beaten over the head with 
the reed scepter that they had given to him. 

“ Jesus was then led out to be crucified,” said 
Uncle Jim in a voice filled with emotion. “ A 
great crowd accompanied him. The cross on 
which the Saviour was to be crucified was carried 
by a man named Simon. It was set up on Calvary 
not far from the city walls, and then they nailed 
Jesus to the cross. At the same time a thief was 
nailed to the cross on either side of him. The 
people mocked and jeered at the Saviour, and the 
soldiers offered him vinegar to drink. 

“ Under all this, the sweet spirit of Jesus was 
not subdued. He said,‘ Father, forgive them; for 
they know not what they do.’ 

“ One of the thieves jeered at him, and told 
Jesus to save himself and them, but the other 
thief rebuked his companion, adding that they 
were only getting what they deserved, while Jesus 
had done nothing wrong. And Jesus spoke to this 
one, saying, ‘ To-day thou shalt be with me in 
paradise.’ 


232 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


“ Soon after noon of that sad day, darkness 
settled over all the land. Nine hours after Jesus 
had been nailed to the cross he cried out in agony, 
‘ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ’ 
He begged for water to drink, whereupon someone 
soaked a sponge in vinegar and gave it to him. 

“ ‘ It is finished/ murmured Jesus, bowing his 
head. And thus he died. 

“ As the spirit went out from the Saviour the 
veil of the temple was torn in two, the earth 
trembled, the rocks were split open and graves 
were opened, revealing their dead. 

“ * Truly this man was the Son of God/ cried a 
Roman soldier who had stood by during the 
crucifixion. 

“ The next day the legs of the two thieves, who 
were still alive, were broken at the demand of the 
people, but Jesus being dead, his legs were left 
untouched in order that the Scripture, which said, 
c A bone of him shall not be broken/ might be ful¬ 
filled. A soldier thrust a spear through Jesus' 
side, thus fulfilling a prophecy, ‘ They shall look 
on him whom they pierced.' 


233 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 

“ Joseph of Arimathea, one of the disciples, 
now obtained permission from Pilate secretly to 
remove Jesus from the cross. With great tender¬ 
ness he wrapped the body in fine linen, with rare 
spices which had been brought by Nicodemus. 
The Saviour was then placed in a sepulcher in 
which none had ever before been laid. And there 
Mary Magdalene and other women of Galilee 
went to watch over the grave. 

“ Recalling Jesus’ words about his resurrection, 
the Pharisees asked Pilate to set a watch over the 
grave until the third day, which was the day on 
which Jesus said he would rise from the dead. 
Permission was given, and the tomb of Jesus was 
sealed by a great stone rolled into the opening, 
and a watch set over it. That, in brief, children, 
is the story of the crucifixion of our Lord, who 
died to save the world.” 

The children sighed deeply as Uncle Jim 
finished, and Betty brushed a hand across her 
eyes. 

“ How could they do such a terrible thing? ” 
murmured the little yellow-haired girl. 


234 


JUDAS SELLS HIS MASTER 


“ The Pharisees were mean enough to do any¬ 
thing,” reminded Dick. “Father, do you think 
they were worth dying for? ” he asked, turning to 
Uncle Jim inquiringly. 

“Jesus did not die for them alone, Son. He 
died for the world. To-morrow, Blue Eyes, I 
will tell you about 1 The Empty Cave, the Story 
of the Resurrection.’ I think we all feel too sad 
to have any more stories to-day,” said Uncle Jim, 
rising and walking away. 


235 


THE EMPTY CAVE 


THE STORY OF THE RESURRECTION 

i i T~\0 you know what day it is that we ob- 
serve as the anniversary of Jesus’ rising 
from the dead? ” asked Uncle Jim Burroughs as 
they sat down under a gnarled and aged apple 
tree next morning. 

The children could not answer the question. 

“The day is Easter,” he said. “You should 
have known that.” 

“ Of course. I learned that in Sunday-school 
a long, long time ago,” answered Betty. 

“ Jesus, as you know, was dead,” began Uncle 
Jim. “ Many of the people of Jerusalem declared 
that he never more would come back to 
the hills of Galilee or the woods of Olivet. The 
women who had watched Joseph of Arimathea 
place the body of the Saviour in the cave in his 
beautiful garden went away just as the great stone 
236 


THE EMPTY CAVE 


that I told you about was rolled into place. They 
were weeping. Mary, the mother of Jesus, had 
been taken by John to a quiet house that belonged 
to his relatives in the city. Simon Peter had ac¬ 
companied John, for they were close friends. 

“ The night passed quietly and silently, and the 
next day, which was the Jewish Sabbath, was 
spent by nearly everyone in rest. It was the love¬ 
liest time of the year, children, and the fullness of 
spring was over the garden of Joseph of Arima- 
thea, which was all sweet and blue below, and 
pale and pink with almond blossoms above. Over 
all was the wonderful turquoise of the skies, that 
are so beautiful in that part of the world. On the 
third night a strange and wonderful thing 
happened. 

“ The Roman soldiers who had kept watch ever 
since the cave had been sealed up by the stone 
had grown tired with their long vigil, and would 
gladly have fallen asleep. All at once, through 
the dark stillness of the garden, came a long, low 
rumbling, like an earthquake. 

“It echoed among the dark cypresses, and 


237 


THE EMPTY CAVE 


across the valley that ran right through the very 
heart of Jerusalem. It roused the soldiers, and 
they were frightened. Then, after a few minutes, 
the sound died quite away. 

“No light was showing yet in the east, but 
presently, coming along the road from where the 
dark roofs of the houses clustered, there might 
have been seen the lights of three lanterns. They 
twinkled like fireflies in the distance, and came 
nearer and nearer to the garden. They were car¬ 
ried by three women — Mary, the mother of 
James, and another who was called Salome, and 
Mary Magdalene, who had followed Jesus from 
her home near Capernaum. They came towards 
the garden in the darkness, talking together very 
sadly, and bringing spices in little glass bowls, 
with which they meant to sprinkle the soft, white 
linen clothes in which the body of the Master had 
been folded before it was placed in the little cave. 

“They entered the gate, stepping softly over 
the grass and among the tall black cypress trees, 
and asking each other in whispers whom they 
could find to roll away the big stone. So they 
238 


THE EMPTY CAVE 


reached the rocky part of the garden where the 
body of Christ had been laid. 

“ When they got there, they saw that the stone 
had already been rolled away, and that the Ro¬ 
man soldiers were crouched and huddled up with 
fear. Lifting their lanterns, the women looked 
inside the open cave, and saw that it was still 
and empty, with only the linen clothes lying 
where the body of Jesus had rested three days 
ago. 

“ Mary Magdalene turned quickly away, sob¬ 
bing with grief. She thought someone had stolen 
the body of Christ, and she ran back to the town 
to tell the disciples. The other women stood, 
hushed and troubled, by the cave, asking each 
other in low voices what could have happened. 
As they talked, all at once there was a great shin¬ 
ing in the dark garden, and they saw that an 
angel was seated on the stone, and that others 
were within the cave. 

“ The angels gave the women the first Easter 
message, children. 

“‘Why seek ye the living among the dead? 


239 


THE EMPTY CAVE 


He is not here, but is risen! Remember how he 
spake unto you while he was yet in Galilee!’ 

“ Then the shining angels told the women to 
go and give the disciples these tidings of joy. 

“ Mary Magdalene had already wakened Peter 
and John, and they, too, were now hurrying 
through the dark morning towards the garden. 
When they got there, all was again still and de¬ 
serted. The women had hastened off in different 
directions, and the Roman soldiers had fled. 
Peter and John looked into the cave, and saw that 
it was empty, but for the linen clothes, just as 
Mary Magdalene had said. But they did not see 
the angels, and they went back home, wondering 
and disturbed. 

“ Only Mary Magdalene still stayed alone in 
the garden. 

“ The dawn was beginning to break now, and 
to show clear and pale among the trees. The 
doves that had their nests quite close to the little 
cave commenced to murmur and coo, and the 
flowers smelled more sweet than ever. But 


240 


THE EMPTY CAVE 


Mary Magdalene noticed none of these things. 
Her lantern had gone out, her long robe was wet 
with dew, and her tears fell on the bowl of spices 
which she still held in her hands.” 

“ Didn’t she know that Jesus had risen from the 
dead? ” questioned Betty breathlessly. 

“No,” he said. “She was heart-broken be¬ 
cause she could not find the body of the Lord. 

“ Then there came again the wonderful shining 
inside the cave. And she, too, stooped and saw 
the angels. 

“ They asked her why she wept. She answered 
that it was because she did not know where the 
people had laid the dear form of her Master. 

“ At that moment she heard a movement be¬ 
hind her, and a gentle voice asked why she was 
crying. She thought it must be the gardener 
speaking, and begged him to tell her if he knew 
where the Master’s body had been laid. Then 
the figure at which she gazed through her tears 
became clearer, and the eyes that met hers were 
full of love, and the Master’s own tender tones 
fell on her ears. 

241 

16 — Unde Jim’s Stories from New Testament. 


THE EMPTY CAVE 


"‘ Mary! ’ 

“It was only a little word, children, but it 
thrilled her through and through, and in that mo¬ 
ment she knew, and as she fell on her knees and 
worshiped, the glorious morning broke into day. 
There before her stood the living Jesus in the 
glory of the sunshine, with the dewy flowers open¬ 
ing wide their petals about him, and the larks 
soaring towards heaven, pouring out their souls 
in song. And that — is — the — end — of — our 
— story,” announced Uncle Jim in slow, measured 
words, as he rose and, for a brief moment, gazed 
thoughtfully up into the blue of the morning 
skies, then at the birds that were trilling joyously 
among the blossoms of the apple trees. Instead 
of announcing his next story, Uncle Jim turned 
abruptly and walked away towards the house. 


242 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 

THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN CLOUD 


HAVE been thinking a great deal about 

J- the risen Jesus,” said Betty at breakfast 
next morning. “ Was he really alive, or was it 
only his spirit? ” questioned Betty. 

“ Blue Eyes, it was Jesus himself in the flesh,” 
Uncle Jim informed her. 

“ What did the Pharisees think about that? ” 
wondered Dick. “ I should think they would 
have run away and hidden themselves for fear 
of the vengeance of the Lord.” 

“ Son, many of them did not believe in him 
even then.” 

“ They were just as stubborn as ever, weren't 
they, Uncle Jim? ” said Betty. 

“ One might call it that,” answered Uncle Jim 
smilingly. “ Is that all, Blue Eyes? ” 

“ Oh, no. We want to hear the rest of the 


243 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


story. I am going to tell the children all about 
Jesus next Sunday, and I simply must have time 
to think about it before that. Please give me 
an early start, Uncle. Right now/' begged Betty 
insistently. 

Uncle Jim smiled broadly. 

“Very good,” he said. “ Come out on the 
porch, and I will tell you the last story. It is 
time Dick and I were going home, and after I 
have finished with the ‘ Firelight on Galilee/ I 
have a surprise for you — a surprise that you 
may or may not like.” 

“ Oh, what is it, what is it? ” cried the little 
girl. 

“ After I have finished, dear,” he replied. 

“ I am eager to know what became of Jesus 
after he rose,” said Dick, as they seated them¬ 
selves on the porch of the Burroughs home. 
“ Where he went and what he did,” added Dick. 

“ Where? Son, I think he went, first of all, 
to the different places in the country-side where 
he had healed the sick and made the lame to walk. 

“The disciples in Jerusalem were naturally 


244 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


greatly excited, and were telling each other what 
Mary Magdalene had seen. You will recall, 
children, that many persons had gone to Jeru¬ 
salem for the Passover, and it was the first day 
of the week in the city as well. Late that after¬ 
noon the visitors, as usual after the Passover, 
started to return home. Among these were two 
disciples from a little village called Emmaus, 
which was built in the middle of the plains three¬ 
score furlongs from Jerusalem.” 

“ How far was that in our miles? ” questioned 
Dick. 

“ About six miles, Son. The two disciples, as 
they plodded along carrying their empty baskets, 
were talking earnestly of what they had heard. 
They had heard Jesus teach and had seen him 
heal the sick with a touch and a word. They 
knew, too, that those who hated him had put 
him to death. They reminded each other of the 
wonderful star that had appeared in Bethlehem 
thirty-three years before, and of the angels among 
the olive trees, and of the Wise Men who came 
to worship the little baby in the cave. 


245 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


“ As the two disciples talked they saw a 
stranger approaching over the plain from the di¬ 
rection of Jerusalem. 

“ This stranger soon joined them, and inquired 
what they were talking about so earnestly, and 
why they were so sad. 

“ The two disciples told him that Jesus, who, 
they believed, was the little baby that the angels 
had sung about, and who they had thought would 
be the great king promised to the Jews, had been 
crucified; and that, though his body had gone 
away, and Mary Magdalene said she had seen him 
alive again, yet nobody else had done so, and 
that they found the story hard to believe. 

“ The stranger looked at them through wise, 
wonderful eyes, and then, with a rare sweet 
smile, began to speak to them. 

“ He told them many things about the promised 
king, and they began to understand that there 
were two kingdoms — one with a palace and a 
garden that they could see — like Herod’s — and 
another with many palaces and gardens that they 
could not see. As the stranger talked, they 
246 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


reached the village, and the disciples begged him 
to come in and have supper, for the sun was 
setting, and night coming on. 

“ He went in with them and sat down to supper. 
Taking a piece of bread, he said grace. Then he 
broke the bread, and gave to each of them a 
piece. As he did so, a change seemed to come 
over him; and they saw that he was no stranger, 
but the Lord Jesus himself. 

“ As they gazed in amazement, Jesus vanished 
out of their sight. 

“ They could not wait then to finish their 
supper, but put on their cloaks, took their sticks 
in their hands, and hurried out into the night 
to go back and tell the disciples at Jerusalem. 
As they went out into the starlight they looked 
across the shadowy pastures that lay on every 
side. 

“ Shepherds were there, as usual, with their 
sheep. And though the angels did not come to 
the plains of Palestine that night, I think the 
echo of their song must have come back from 
among the stars: 


247 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


“‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, goodwill to men/ 

“ It was a few days later,” resumed Uncle Jim 
after a few moments’ thought, “ that the young 
fisherman, John, whom Jesus loved so well, was 
seated in the bow of a ship that rocked softly on 
the sea. It was a still night, with a soft dark 
sky sparkling with thousands of stars. The 
fisherman’s nets were spread on the left-hand side 
of the boat, but so far not a fish had been caught. 

“John, looking out into the starry darkness, 
was dreaming and thinkipg of Jesus.” 

“ Did John know what had happened to 
Jesus? ” asked Dick in a low tone of voice. 

“ Yes, Son; and all knew that he had risen from 
the dead — I mean all the disciples — for they 
had more than once seen and spoken to him, and 
John was now wishing with all his heart that 
Jesus would show himself again. He missed 
Jesus, his friend, more than words could express, 
though John’s heart was full of joy that the 
Master was alive again. 

248 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 

“ As he thought and dreamed, John's attention 
was suddenly drawn to a glow of red light on 
the shore, among the shadows. The spot of red 
showed all clear and crimson for a moment, not 
much larger than a flower. Then it began to 
spread and widen, throwing a lovely brightness 
on the ripples that broke about the boat. 

“ John now saw that the light was caused by 
a slow, steady fire made of charcoal. He thought 
he could see the shadowy figure of a man standing 
near, feeding the flames." 

“Was it — was it Jesus?" whispered Betty. 

Uncle Jim did not reply directly. 

“ As John watched, a feeling of deep awe and 
gladness filled his heart, for he now believed that 
it was the Lord himself standing there by the 
little charcoal fire, because Jesus had promised 
to come to Galilee. 

“ Then, all the fishermen heard a clear, strong 
voice calling through the darkness, and with the 
sound of the voice dawn began to break. 

“ ‘ Children, have you anything to eat? ’ called 
the voice from the shore. 


249 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


“ Think how human that was, Blue Eyes,” 
reminded Uncle Jim. 

“ The fishermen were unable to see the face of 
that dim, mysterious figure, but they called out 
rather sorrowfully, that, so far, they had not 
caught a single fish. Then the voice floated back 
to them: 

“ ‘ Throw your nets over to the right-hand side 
of the boat! , 

“ The fishermen hauled in their nets as speedily 
as possible and threw them out on the other side 
of the ship. In a moment the nets were filled 
with bright, gleaming fish. 

“ John knew then for certain who it was that 
stood on the shore by the little charcoal fire in the 
growing light of the morning. 

“ ‘ It is the Lord/ he whispered to Peter in 
awe.” 

“Were they frightened, Uncle Jim?” asked 
Betty in a half-whisper. 

“ No, children. But they were, as I have told 
you, filled with awe and happiness. 

“ Peter gave an exclamation of wonder and joy, 
250 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


then, without waiting, he sprang out of the boat 
and waded to the shore, for the water was quite 
shallow there. The other fishermen started row¬ 
ing towards the shore dragging the fish-laden nets 
after them; and Simon Peter, who had not yet 
dared to speak to the shadowy figure on the beach, 
assisted them to draw the nets to land.” 

“How about the fish?” ventured Dick. 

“ The nets were full of shining ones,” said Uncle 
Jim. “ As they lay on the pale, dawn-lit shore, 
they looked as if they were coated with silver, 
yet the nets did not give way under the greatest 
strain that ever had been put upon them. 

“ One by one the fishermen climbed out of the 
boat and drew near to Jesus, who still stood by the 
small bright fire. It was then that they discov¬ 
ered that he had been preparing food for them — 
broiling fish over the charcoal, and dividing little 
loaves of bread. Think of it, children. Jesus, our 
Lord, cooking for these humble fishermen. 

“ Oh, Uncle Jim, it is the most wonderful thing 
I ever heard,” cried the little yellow-haired girl 
with shining eyes. 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


“‘Come and eat with me/ directed the Saviour. 
He then gave them of the fish and the bread just 
as he had done for the crowds of people out of 
the unknown little boy’s basket up in the very 
hills that, tipped with the light of morning, were 
about them now. 

“John crept nearer to Jesus until, at last, he 
was nestling close to the Saviour, his heart almost 
bursting with happiness and love. 

“ Jesus sat talking and eating with the fisher¬ 
men for a long time, just as he had done in the 
days that had passed. 

“ ‘ Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? 9 he 
demanded, addressing Simon Peter. He asked 
the question three times. Peter was grieved to 
think that Jesus could doubt his love, and an¬ 
swered that Jesus must know he loved him. 

“ Jesus then told Peter to feed his lambs and 
sheep — ” 

“What did the Saviour mean by that?” in¬ 
terrupted Betty. 

“ By lambs and sheep, Jesus meant the grown¬ 
up people and the children, who would believe 


252 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


in his Word through all the long years to come,” 
explained Uncle Jim. 

“ Jesus showed himself to his disciples again 
when they were back in Jerusalem. He appeared 
to them as they sat talking at supper, and there 
he taught them once more. He then rose and 
commanded them to follow him towards Bethany. 

“ I think you children have read of the brook, 
in fact I have told you about it, where the chil¬ 
dren gathered the myrtles, and you remember 
the mountain-side that once rang with ‘ Hosan¬ 
nas ’ as Jesus rode down on the back of the colt. 
This was the way he now led his disciples. They 
followed him across the stream, and up into the 
flowery slopes above. Jesus then turned his lov¬ 
ing face to them and blessed them, as they knelt 
before him. Oh, that wonderful moment, 
children! 

“ A soft, golden cloud floated over the moun¬ 
tain-top, drifting through the olive boughs and 
settling gently, oh, so gently, on the grass and the 
flowers. This golden cloud probably settled over 
the figure of the Saviour, causing his robes, his 


2 53 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


hands and his face to look bright. Then, to the 
awe-filled eyes of the disciples, we can picture 
him folded into the very heart of the glory of God. 
It was as if there were angels’ wings about him 
drawing him upward to the sky. 

“ When the golden mist floated away the Sav¬ 
iour had disappeared. In the golden cloud, he 
had gone back home to God, my children,” fin¬ 
ished Uncle Jim in a deep tone of reverence. 
“ This, Little Blue Eyes, is the end of our story¬ 
telling for this summer.” 

“ Oh, Uncle Jim,” murmured Betty. “ It has 
all been so wonderful and so beautiful that I can’t 
bear to have it stop.” 

“You will not complain when you hear what 
is to follow, my dear. To-morrow will be Sunday, 
and you know you are to tell the little children 
of your Sunday-school class the story of our Sav¬ 
iour’s last days on earth. On Monday Dick and 
I are to leave, and here comes the surprise — the 
happy surprise.” 

Betty’s eyes were instantly filled with eager 
questioning. 


2 54 


FIRELIGHT ON GALILEE 


“ You and Mother are going with us. We are 
going to New York. Can you not guess why? ” 

Betty Burroughs’ eyes were filled with quick 
understanding. 

“ Daddy! ” she cried almost hysterically. “ My 
own beloved Daddy! ” 

“ Yes, Daughter,” added Mrs. Burroughs. 
“ Daddy’s ship will reach port on Tuesday. He 
will not be able to come home, but we are all going 
to meet him and to live with him while he is in 
port, and you will tell him stories of our blessed 
Saviour, and he will be glad.” 

Betty Burroughs threw herself into her 
mother’s arms, while Uncle Jim and Son Dick got 
up and walked slowly out into the orchard, where 
Betty soon joined them under the fragrant, 
blooming apple trees. 


THE END 


255 






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1. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS AT SEA; or. Two Apprentices in Uncle 

Sam’s Navy. 

2. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS’ FIRST STEP UPWARD; or, Winning 

Their Grades as Petty Officers. 

3. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN FOREIGN SERVICE; or, Earning 

New Ratings in European Seas. 

A. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE TROPICS; or. Upholding the 
American Flag in a Honduras Revolution. 

5. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS UNDER FIRE; or, The Dash for the 

Besieged Kam Shau Mission. 

6. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE WARDROOM; or, Winning 

Their Commissions as Line Officers. 

7. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS WITH THE ADRIATIC CHASERS; or, 

Blocking the Path of the Undersea Raiders. 

8. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS ON SKY PATROL; or. Fighting the Hun 

from Above the Clouds. 
















THE BOYS OF THE ARMY SERIES 

By H. IRVING HANCOCK 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

These stimulating stories are among 
the best of their class that have ever 
been written. They breathe the life and 
spirit of our army of today, and in 
which Uncle Sam’s Boys fought with a > 
courage and devotion excelled by none 
in the world war. There is no better 
way to instil patriotism in the coming 
generation than by placing in the hands 
of juvenile readers books in which a 
romantic atmosphere is thrown around 
the boys of the army with thrilling 
plots that boys love. The books of this 
series tell in story form the life of a soldier from the rookie 
stage until he has qualified for an officer’s commission, and, 
among other things, present a true picture of the desperate 
days in fighting the Huns. 

1. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE RANKS; or. Two Recruits in the 

United States Army. 

2. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; or. Winning Corporals’ 

Chevrons. 

3. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; or. Handling Their First 

Real Commands. 

4. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; or. Following the 

Flag Against the Moros. 

5. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS ON THEIR METTLE; or, A Chance to Win 

Officers’ Commissions. 

6. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS LIEUTENANTS; or, Serving Old Glory 

as Line Officers. 

7. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS WITH PERSHING; or, Dick Prescott at 

Grips with the Boche. 

8. UNCLE SAM’S BOYS SMASH THE GERMANS; or. Helping the 

Allies Wind Up the Great World War. 










DAVE DARRIN SERIES 

By H. IRVING HANCOCK 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

No more efficient officers ever paced 
the deck of a man-o’-war than Dave Dar¬ 
rin and Dan Dalzell. The last two vol¬ 
umes chronicle the experiences of Dave 
and Dan in the great war. 

1. DAVE DARRIN AT VERA CRUZ; or, Fight¬ 
ing With the U. S. Navy in Mexico. 

2. DAVE DARRIN ON MEDITERRANEAN 
SERVICE; or, With Dan Dalzell on Euro¬ 
pean Duty. 

3. DAVE DARRIN’S SOUTH AMERICAN 
CRUISE; or, Two Innocent Young Naval 
Tools of an Infamous Conspiracy. 

4. DAVE DARRIN ON THE ASIATIC STATION; or, Winning Lieu¬ 

tenants’ Commissions on the Admiral’s Flagship. 

5. DAVE DARRIN AND THE GERMAN SUBMARINES; or. Making 

a Clean-up of the Hun Sea Monsters. 

6. DAVE DARRIN AFTER THE MINE LAYERS; or, Hitting the 

Enemy a Hard Naval Blow. 

THE CONQUEST OF THE UNITED 
STATES SERIES 

By H. IRVING HANCOCK 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

If the United States had not entered the war many things 
might have happened to America. No liberty-loving Ameri¬ 
can boy can afford to miss reading these books. 

1. THE INVASION OF THE UNITED STATES; or. Uncle Sam’s Boys 

at the Capture of Boston. 

2. IN THE BATTLE FOR NEW YORK; or, Uncle Sam’s Boys in the 

Desperate Struggle for the Metropolis. 

3. AT THE DEFENSE OF PITTSBURGH; or, The Struggle to Save 

America’s “Fighting Steel” Supply. 

4. MAKING THE LAST STAND FOR OLD GLORY; or. Uncle Sam’s 

Boys in the Last Frantic Drive. 
















THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB SERIES 


By H. IRVING HANCOCK 

PRICE, *1.00 EACH 

Bright and sparkling as the waters 
over which the Motor Boat Boys sail. 

Once cast off for a cruise with these 
hardy young fresh-water navigators 
the reader will not ask to be “put 
ashore” until the home port has finally 
been made. Manliness and pluck are 
reflected on every page; the plots are 
ingenious, the action swift, and the in¬ 
terest always tense. There is neither 
a yawn in a paragraph nor a dull mo¬ 
ment in a chapter in this stirring 
series. No boy or girl will willingly 
lay down a volume of it until “the end.” The stories also em¬ 
body much useful information about the operation and hand¬ 
ling of small power boats. 

1. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; or, The Secret 

of Smugglers’ Island. 

2. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; or, The Mystery of 

the Dunstan Heir. 

3. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; or, A Daring 

Marine Game at Racing Speed. 

4. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; or, The Dot, 

Dash and Dare Cruise. 

5. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; or, Laying the Ghost 

of Alligator Swamp. 

6. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; or, A 

Thrilling Capture in the Great Fog. 

f. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; or. The 
Flying Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water. 










S5I 


THE SUBMARINE BOYS SERIES 

By VICTOR G. DURHAM 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

A voyage in an undersea boat! What 
boy has not done so time and again in 
his youthful dreams? The Submarine 
Boys did it in reality, diving into the 
dark depths of the sea, then, like Father 
Neptune, rising dripping from the deep 
to sunlight and safety. Yet it was not 
all easy sailing for the Submarine Boys, 
for these hardy young “undersea pi¬ 
rates” experienced a full measure of ex¬ 
citement and had their share of thrills, 
as all who sail under the surface of the 
seas are certain to do. The author 
knows undersea boats, and the reader who voyages with him 
may look forward to an instructive as well as lively cruise. 

1. THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; or, Life on a Diving Torpedo 

Boat. 

2. THE SUBMARINE BOYS’ TRIAL TRIP; or, “Making Good” as 

Young Experts. 

3. THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; or, The Prize De¬ 

tail at Annapolis. 

4. THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; or, Dodging the 

Sharks of the Deep. 

5. THE SUBMARINE BOYS’ LIGHTNING CRUISE; or, The Young 

Kings of the Deep. 

€. THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; or. Deeding Their Lives 
to Uncle Sam, 

7. THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; or, Breaking 
Up the New Jersey Customs Frauds. 

S. THE SUBMARINE BOYS’ SECRET MISSION; or, Beating an Am¬ 
bassador’s Game. 
















THE PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES 

By FRANK GEE PATCHIN 


PRICE, $1.00 EACH 


The —• 

PONY-RIDER-BOYS 
IN-THE-ROCK1ES 


This unusual and popular series tells 
vividly the story of four adventure-lov¬ 
ing lads, who, with their guardian, spent 
their summer vacations in the saddle in 
search of recreation and healthful 
adventure, though for a time it seemed to 
them that nature and man had conspired 
to defeat them at every turn. Long 
journeys over mountain, through the 
fastness of primitive forest and across 
burning desert, lead them into the wild 
places of their native land as well as 
into many strange and exciting experi¬ 
ences. There is not a dull moment in the series for the Pony 
Rider Boys nor for those who read of their summer wander¬ 
ings. 

1. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; or. The Secret of 

the Lost Claim. 

2. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; or, The Veiled Riddle of the 

Plains. 

3. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; or, The Mystery of the 

Old Custer Trail. 



4. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; or, The Secret of 

Ruby Mountain. 

5. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; or, Finding a Key to 

the Desert Maze. 


6. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; or, The End of the 

Silver Trail. 

7. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; or, The 

Mystery of Bright Angel *Gulch. 

8. THE PONY RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS; or, On 

the Trail of the Border Bandits. 

















THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS 

SERIES 

By FRANK GEE PATCHIN 

PRICE, 51.00 EACH 

“Farming? Pooh!” This, today, is the atti¬ 
tude of the average American young man. Yet 
the most solid and enduring wealth comes out of 
the soil. The old farming conditions are passing. 
The ranch or great farm of today is really a 
gigantic business undertaking, employing multi¬ 
tudes, and those of the employees who rise and 
lead these multitudes find the best of incomes 
awaiting them. Ranch and farm today distinctly 
bid for brains, not mere muscle. Do you know, 
for instance, that from $10,000 to $12,000 a year 
is very common pay for the foremen of the great 
wheat ranches in Kansas? Have you any idea of 
the excitements, the glories of this life on great 
ranches in the West? Any bright boy will “de¬ 
vour” the books of this series, once he has made 
a start with the first volume. 

1. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; or. 

The Boy Shepherds of the Great Divide. 

2. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS’ GREATEST ROUND¬ 

UP; or, Pitting Their Wits Against a Packers’ Combine. 

3. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE PLAINS; or, 

Following the Steam Plows Across the Prairie. 

4. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; or, The 

Conspiracy of the Wheat Pit. 

THE BOYS OF STEEL SERIES 

By JAMES R. MEARS 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

In this splendid series the great American steel industry is exploited by 
a master pen. The author put in much time studying conditions at the 
iron mines, on the transportation routes and at the big steel mills. He has 
made of these volumes a series of romances with scenes laid in the iron and 
steel world. Each book presents a vivid picture of some phase of this 
great industry. The information given is exact and truthful; above all, 
each story is full of adventure and fascination. The steel industry today 
offers a splendid field for the efforts of really bright American youths. 
There are great possibilities of careers in this line of work; the brightest 
who enter may in time win some of the highest incomes paid in this coun¬ 
try. And the work is full of fascination throughout. 

1. THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; or, Starting at the Bottom of 

the Shaft. 

2. THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; or, Heading the Diamond Drill 

Shift. 

3. THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; or, Roughing It on the 

4. THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; or, Beginning Anew in 

the Cinder Pits. 


RANGE 
AND GRANGE 
HUSTLERS ON 
THE RANCH 

C • PATCHBi 












THE CIRCUS BOYS SERIES 

By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

No call to the heart of the youth of 
America finds a readier response than the 
call of the billowing canvas, the big red 
wagons, the crash of the circus band and 
the trill of the ringmaster’s whistle. It 
is a call that captures the imagination of 
old and young alike, and so do the books 
of this series capture and enthrall the 
reader, for they were written by one who, 
besides wielding a master pen, has fol¬ 
lowed the sawdust trail from coast to 
coast, who knows the circus people and 
the sturdy manliness of those who do 
and dare for the entertainment of mil¬ 
lions of circus-goers when the grass is 
green. Mr. Darlington paints a true picture of the circus life. 

1. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; or. Making the 

Start in the Sawdust Life. 

2. THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; or, Winning 

New Laurels on the Tanbark. 

3. THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; or, Winning the Plaudits of 

the Sunny South. 

4. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; or, Afloat with the 

Big Show on the Big River. 

5. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE PLAINS; or, The Young Advance 

Agents Ahead of the Show. 


BOOKS FOR GIRLS 

THE MADGE MORTON SERIES 

By AMY D. V. CHALMERS 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

The heroines of these stories are four girls, who with en¬ 
thusiasm for outdoor life, transformed a dilapidated canal 
boat into a pretty floating summer home. They christened 
the craft “The Merry Maid” and launched it on the shore of 
Chesapeake Bay. The stories are full of fun and adventure, 
with not a dull moment anywhere. 

1. MADGE MORTON—CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID. 

2. MADGE MORTON’S SECRET. 

3. MADGE MORTON’S TRUST. 

4. MADGE MORTON’S VICTORY. 












THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS SERIES 

By JANET ALDRIDGE 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Four clever girls go hiking around 
the country and meet with many thril¬ 
ling and provoking adventures. These 
stories pulsate with the atmosphere of 
outdoor life. 

1. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER 
CANVAS; or. Fun and Frolic in the Sum¬ 
mer Camp. 

2. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS 
COUNTRY; or, The Young Pathfinders 
on a Summer Hike. 

3. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT; 
or, The Stormy Cruise of the Red Rover. 

4. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS; or, The Missing 

Pilot of the White Mountains. 

5. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA; or, The Loss of the 

Lonesome Bar. 

6. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS; or. 

Winning Out in the Big Tournament. 

THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS SERIES 

By LAURA DENT CRANE 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Girls as well as boys love wholesome adventure, a wealth 
of which is found in many forms and in many scenes in the 
volumes of this series. 

1. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; or, Watching the Sum¬ 

mer Parade. 

2. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; or. The 

Ghost of Lost Man’s Trail. 

3. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; or, Fighting 

Fire in Sleepy Hollow. 

4. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; or. Winning Out 

Against Heavy Odds. 

5. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; or, Proving Their 

Mettle Under Southern Skies. 

6. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; or, Checkmating 

the Plots of Foreign Spies. 











THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES 


By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 


The scenes, episodes, and adventures 
through which Grace Harlowe and her 
intimate chums pass in the course of 
these stories are pictured with a vivacity 
that at once takes the young feminine 
captive. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S PLEBE YEAR AT 

HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Merry Doings of 
the Oakdale Freshmen Girls. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S SOPHOMORE YEAR 

AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Record of the 
Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. 



3. GRACE HARLOWE’S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, 
Fast Friends in the Sororities. 


4. GRACE HARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, 
The Parting of the Ways. 


THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Every school and college girl will recognize that the ac¬ 
count of Grace Harlowe’s experiences at Overton College is 
true to life. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE’S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

4. GRACE HARLOWE’S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE’S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS. 

6. GRACE HARLOWE’S PROBLEM. 

7. GRACE HARLOWE’S GOLDEN SUMMER. 










THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS 

SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, 51.00 EACH 

Grace Harlowe went with the Over- 
ton College Red Cross Unit to France, 
there to serve her country by aiding the 
American fighting forces. These books 
will interest every girl reader because 
they describe the great war from a 
girl’s point of view. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS. 

2 . GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE RED 
CROSS IN FRANCE. 

3 . GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE ' MA¬ 
RINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY. 

4. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE U. S. 
TROOPS IN THE ARGONNE. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE YANKEE 
SHOCK BOYS AT ST. QUENTIN. 

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE 

THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERLAND 
RIDERS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, 51.00 EACH 

Grace Harlowe and her friends of the Overton College Unit 
seek adventure on the mountain trails and in the wilder sec¬ 
tions of their homeland, after their return from service in 
France. These are stories of real girls for real girls. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE OLD 

APACHE TRAIL. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE GREAT 

AMERICAN DESERT. 

3 . GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AMONG THE KEN¬ 

TUCKY MOUNTAINEERS. 

4. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE GREAT 

NORTH V/OODS. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE HIGH 

SIERRAS. 

6. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE YELLOW¬ 

STONE NATIONAL PARK. 

7. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE BLACK 

HILLS. 

8. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O 

RANCH. 



6. GRACE HARLOWE 
RHINE. 

















WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS 

For little hands to fondle and for mother to read aloud. 
Every ounce of them will give a ton of joy. 

WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS SERIES 


1. MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY TALES. 

2. MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES. 

3. A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES. Robert 

Louis Stevenson. 

4. THE FOOLISH FOX. 

5. THREE LITTLE PIGS. 

6 THE ROBBER KITTEN. 

7. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO. 

8. THE LITTLE SMALL RED HEN. 

9. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 

10. THE LITTLE WISE CHICKEN THAT 

KNEW IT ALL. 

11. PIFFLE’S ABC BOOK OF FUNNY ANIMALS. 

12. THE FOUR LITTLE PIGS THAT DIDN’T HAVE ANY MOTHER. 

13. THE LITTLE PUPPY THAT WANTED TO KNOW TOO MUCH. 

14. THE COCK, THE MOUSE AND THE LITTLE RED HEN. 

15. GRUNTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE— INDOORS. 

16. GRUNTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE—OUTDOORS. 

17. I DON’T WANT TO WEAR COATS AND THINGS. 

18. I DON’T WANT TO GO TO BED. 

WEE FOLKS BIBLE STORIES SERIES 

1. WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. In 

Words of One Syllable. 

2. WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. In 

W T ords of One Syllable. 

3. WEE FOLKS LIFE OF CHRIST. 

4. WEE FOLKS BIBLE ABC BOOK. 

5. LITTLE PRAYERS FOR LITTLE LIPS. 

THE WISH FAIRY SERIES 

1. THE LONG AGO YEARS STORIES. 

2. THE WISH FAIRY OF THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 

FOREST. 

3. THE WISH FAIRY AND DEWY DEAR. 

4. THE MUD WUMPS OF THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 

FOREST. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. 



PRICE, 50c. EACH 
















WEE FOLKS PETER RABBIT SERIES 


1. THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT. 

2. HOW PETER RABBIT WENT TO SEA. 

3. PETER RABBIT AT THE FARM. 

4. PETER RABBIT’S CHRISTMAS. 

5. PETER RABBIT’S EASTER. 

6. WHEN PETER RABBIT WENT TO 
SCHOOL. 

7. PETER RABBIT’S BIRTHDAY. 

8. PETER RABBIT GOES A-VISITING. 

9 . PETER RABBIT AND JACK-THE-JUMPER. 

10. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND THE LITTLE BOY. 

11. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND LITTLE WHITE 

RABBIT. 

12. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND THE OLD WITCH 

WOMAN. 

13. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND THE TINYBITS. 

14. WHEN PETER RABBIT WENT A-FISHING. 

15. OLD MOTHER RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR. 

WEE FOLKS CINDERELLA SERIES 

1. THE WONDERFUL STORY OF CINDERELLA. 

2. THE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 

3. THE OLDTIME STORY OF THE THREE BEARS. 

4. THE OLD, OLD STORY OF POOR COCK ROBIN. 

5. CHICKEN LITTLE. 

6. PUSS IN BOOTS. 

7 . THREE LITTLE KITTENS THAT LOST THEIR MITTENS. 

8. JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 

9 . JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. 

10. TOM THUMB. 

LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN SERIES 

1. LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN. 

2. LITTLE LAMBIE LAMBKIN. 

3. LITTLE MOUSIE MOUSIEKIN. 

4. LITTLE DEARIE DEER. 

5. LITTLE SQUIRRELIE SQUIRRELIEKIN. 

6. OLD RED REYNARD THE FOX. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. 



PRICE, 50c. EACH 














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Treatment Date: June 2005 

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